The Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) is pleased to announce ten fellows selected to participate in the Post-Graduate Teaching Fellowship at AICAD institutions during the 2023/24 academic year. Additionally, five of the 2022/23 fellows will continue their positions for a second year.
The fellowship provides professional practice opportunities to high-achieving alumni who have recently graduated from AICAD member schools, while also increasing the racial and ethnic diversity of faculty at these institutions. AICAD institutions aspire to create a climate that recognizes and values diversity as central to excellence in art and design education.
Fellowships include mentoring and professional development opportunities along with direct teaching experience, health benefits, and other monetary support.
The 2023/24 AICAD fellows are:
Kimberly Ayala Najera (MArch, 2023, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Najera incorporates materials created by those historically overlooked or silenced within the art/architectural industry, primarily BIPOC women.
Akea Brionne (MFA, Photography, 2023, Cranbrook Academy of Art) placed at Kansas City Art Institute. Brionne is a Creole lens-based artist and researcher. Working with a foundation in research, her work is at the intersection of photography, textiles, and the moving image.
Heehyun Choi (MFA, Film & Video, 2021, California Institute of the Arts) placed at Kansas City Art Institute. Choi is a moving image artist interested in physicality, virtuality, and subjectivity. Choi is the recipient of the Ann Arbor Film Festival’s Mariam Ghani Juror Award.
Ann Dinh (Master of Industrial Design, 2022, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at Pratt Institute. Dinh is focused on physical objects, digital landscapes, and creating space for multifaceted identities. She received the Industrial Design Society of America Graduate Student Merit Award.
Bao Hu (MFA, Graphic Design, 2022, Maryland Institute College of Art) placed at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Hu is influenced by Eastern and Western cultures and comprehensive design methodology. Her works have been recognized by The Society of Typographic Arts, Communication Arts, and AIGA Blue Ridge.
Aaron Neal (MA, Adaptive Reuse, 2023, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Neal explores adaptive reuse within African American communities and its environmental impact. He is a recipient of the Presidential Fellow Award from RISD.
Uthman Olowa (MArch, 2023, Rhode Island School of Design) placed at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Olowa focuses on revitalizing Black and Brown communities through architecture. He received Gensler’s Rising Black Designer Scholarship award and founded the Urban Design League.
Seyhr Quayum (MFA, 2022, Pratt Institute) placed at Kansas City Art Institute. Qayum is a Pakistani-American interdisciplinary artist at the intersection of fashion, capital, and politics. Her work explores adorning women’s bodies as a feminist act of resistance. Quayum received the 2022 Stutzman Foundation Award for Three-Dimensional Work.
Chris Salas (MFA, Ceramics, 2023, Cranbrook Academy of Art) placed at School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Salas attended workshops at Penland and Arrowmont, and completed the Minnesota New Institute for Ceramics Education program at the Northern Clay Center.
Em Yue (MFA, Experimental Animation, 2022, California Institute of the Arts) placed at Columbus College of Art & Design. Yue is an Asian American animator focused on human connection, queerness, and virtual geographies. Her collaborations include the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and Ozy Media.
Continuing fellows:
Lipika Bhargava (MFA, Fine Arts, 2022, Parsons School of Design) placed at Pratt Institute. / Noelle Choy (MFA, Sculpture, 2022, Cranbrook Academy of Art) placed at Kansas City Art Institute. / Dairys Escoto De León (MFA, Experimental Animation, 2022, California Institute of the Arts) placed at University of the Arts. / Courtney Morgan (MA, Design Leadership, 2022, Maryland Institute College of Art) placed at Parsons School of Design. / Kyle Wilhite (MFA, Studio Arts, 2022, San Francisco Art Institute) placed at Parsons School of Design.
