IDSVA

Natalie Velez (PhD Candidate) will be attending the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, May 14–16, 2026. Natalie is one of the presenters in the session Reengaged Learning: Pedagogy and Teaching the Medieval: Using Primary Texts. She will present her paper, “What Does It Make You Wonder About? The Art of Asking Questions: Adapting Museum Practices for Teaching Medieval Studies.” She will also participate in Tory Schendel-Vyvoda’s roundtable, Mysticism, Transcendence, and Cosmologies: Medieval Pathways to the Twenty-First Century, where she will discuss Medieval Cross-Cultural Art Collaborations through the Lens of Gianni Vattimo’s Hermeneutics. To learn more about our conference participants, visit the link in our bio. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #AcademicConference #SpringConference #SpringSymposium #WesternMichiganUniversity @westernmichu @velez_natalie

Jon Carver (Cohort ’25) was recently awarded a faculty spotlight for his exceptional work as Assistant Professor at IAIA (Institute of American Indian Arts). “As an Elinor Ostrom Fellow through the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Carver recently completed a paper exploring Ostrom’s Nobel-recognized work on common-pool resources alongside pre-Platonic Greek thought and governance practices of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The project traces how ideas of cooperation, shared stewardship, and collective responsibility appear across time and place, while recognizing that Indigenous nations have long put these principles into practice.” To learn more about our Students and Alumni, visit our website at the link in our bio. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #FacultySpotlight #IAIA #FacultyAchievement #AssistantProfessor @instituteofamericanindianarts

Rebecca Monaghan (Cohort ’23) will present Mysticism, Transcendence, and Cosmologies: Medieval Pathways to the Twenty-First Century and panel the session “Medieval Association of the Midwest Roundtable” at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, May 14-16, 2026. To learn more about our spring conference participants, visit the link in our bio. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #AcademicConference #SpringConference #SpringSymposium #WesternMichiganUniversity @westernmichu

Sam De Lemos (Cohort ’24) will present Converso Cosmology: An Introduction — From Medieval Iberia into Early Modernity for the session "Mysticism, Transcendence, and Cosmologies: Medieval Pathways to the Twenty-First Century" at the 61st International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University, May 14–16, 2026. To learn more about our spring conference participants, visit the link in our bio. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #AcademicConference #SpringConference #SpringSymposium #WesternMichiganUniversity @westernmichu

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Adam Antonio Montoya has been awarded the 2026 IDSVA Ted Coons Dissertation Prize for the dissertation “On Phantom Country: The Crypt Æsthetics of a Wilder West”, directed by Dr. Dejan Lukic. The award was conferred at the IDSVA Commencement ceremony in New York City at the Morgan Library Auditorium on May 3, 2026. The Ted Coons Dissertation Prize is awarded to one IDSVA graduate each year. The Prize was established in 2015 to acknowledge outstanding IDSVA dissertations that distinguish themselves for their original philosophical approach, scholarly quality, and contribution to new knowledge. It was made possible thanks to a generous donation by Dr. Ted Coons, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Cognition & Perception at the Center for Neural Science at New York University. Professor Ted Coons is a pioneer in the field of neuroscience and a major contributor to early studies in neuroaesthetics. To learn more, visit our News at the link in bio. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #DissertationPrize #AdamAntonioMontoya #WildWest #CommencementAward #TedCoons #Neuroscience #Neuroaesthetics @ghostonghost

If you are near Beverly, MA we hope you can make the book launch this Friday, May 15, 2026 from 2-4pm with author Dr. Kate Farrington, artists Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas, artist John Preus, with Dr. Leonie Bradbury, and moderator, Shana Dumont Garr at the Black Box Theater. They will be discussing Dr. Farrington’s new book, now available at Book Publications at the link in our bio. Dr. Farrington’s “Place-As-Medium and New Grounds for Thinking in Contemporary Art” (Routledge 2026) presents a broad scope of global contemporary art projects, establishing a new philosophical framework to understand and evaluate the new art practice known as “place-as‑medium.” The book offers a new reading of the work of artists like Alfredo Jaar, Theaster Gates, John Preus, and paradigm-shifting curatorial projects such as Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev’s 2012 international art exhibition dOCUMENTA (13) through the theories of Jacques Rancière, Gianni Vattimo, and Martin Heidegger, among others. It provides a model for ecological thinking in a case study of The Swamp School by Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas. "Kate Farrington is an artist, art theorist, and philosopher, weaving together the Continental philosophical tradition with some strands of Buddhist practice. The extraordinary range and innovation of her thinking illuminates the artform of place-as medium, which activates “thinking through place.” In her topical and profound meditations, the artistic practice of contemporary artists like the Chilean Alfredo Jaar emerge as poignant and rousing responses to the political and ecological exigencies of our global disorder." ―Jason M. Wirth, Professor of Philosophy, Seattle University #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #PublishedDissertation #BookLaunch #AlumniAchievements @shaygarmont @dutchgirlleonie

Over the weekend IDSVA students, alumni, faculty, staff, board members, friends, family members, and well-wishers convened at several important events in NYC. The kick-off welcome event was held at Gallery MC on Friday, May 1st and included a screening of a short film by Christopher Andrew, The Novara and IDSVA at the Good Life Center. The film features a conversation between Dr. Rachael M Rollson (IDSVA PhD ’24), Chair of the Good Life Center, Dr. Samantha Jones (IDSVA PhD ’24), Artist and Professor at UMPI, Dr. Nigel Jollands and Veronica Lysaght, Co-Skippers on the Novara, and Dr. Bruce Glavovic, Professor at Massey University. The 2025 Novara One Planet expedition, led by Dr. Nigel Jollands and Veronica Lysaght, focuses on climate change action and ocean education, with the crew gathering in Maine in June 2025 for a journey aimed at Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. The expedition utilizes the extensively refitted steel/aluminum vessel Novara to explore remote coastal areas, promoting sustainability through science and adventure. The mission of The Good Life Center is to perpetuate the legacy of Helen and Scott Nearing. Through its programming and preservation of the historic Forest Farm homestead, The Good Life Center advocates for simple and sustainable living skills, social and economic justice, organic gardening, and the non-exploitation of animals and the environment. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD LowResidencyProgram VisualArtsPhD CommencementWeekend FilmScreening SustainablePractice AlumniEvents TheGoodLifeCenter TheNovara OnePlanet @thegoodlifecenter @novaraoneplanet @samjonesstudio @stoptimelive @stone_broke_bread_and_books

Over the weekend IDSVA students, alumni, faculty, staff, board members, friends, family members, and well-wishers convened at several important events in NYC. The kick-off welcome event was held at Gallery MC on Friday, May 1st and included a screening of a short film by Christopher Andrew, The Novara and IDSVA at the Good Life Center. The film features a conversation between Dr. Rachael M Rollson (IDSVA PhD ’24), Chair of the Good Life Center, Dr. Samantha Jones (IDSVA PhD ’24), Artist and Professor at UMPI, Dr. Nigel Jollands and Veronica Lysaght, Co-Skippers on the Novara, and Dr. Bruce Glavovic, Professor at Massey University. The 2025 Novara One Planet expedition, led by Dr. Nigel Jollands and Veronica Lysaght, focuses on climate change action and ocean education, with the crew gathering in Maine in June 2025 for a journey aimed at Greenland and the Canadian Arctic. The expedition utilizes the extensively refitted steel/aluminum vessel Novara to explore remote coastal areas, promoting sustainability through science and adventure. The mission of The Good Life Center is to perpetuate the legacy of Helen and Scott Nearing. Through its programming and preservation of the historic Forest Farm homestead, The Good Life Center advocates for simple and sustainable living skills, social and economic justice, organic gardening, and the non-exploitation of animals and the environment. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #CommencementWeekend #FilmScreening #SustainablePractice #AlumniEvents #TheGoodLifeCenter #TheNovara #OnePlanet @thegoodlifecenter @novaraoneplanet @samjonesstudio @stoptimelive @stone_broke_bread_and_books @mc_gallery___

Sammetria Goodson (Cohort ’25) recently gave opening remarks at Moving Minds & Money: Culture, Capital, and Community Development, a conversation that brings together leaders across sectors to explore how cultural infrastructure and place-based investment strategies can strengthen communities. The April 22nd event, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, was the first of three convenings that will take place in Dallas in 2026. The foundational document for the convening was a paper co-authored by Sammetria and published in 2023. You may find the paper at the link in our bio. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #OpeningRemarks #SammetriaGoodson #CulturalInfrastructure #InvestmentStrategies @samyeyeamy

On the other side 💫 six years, countless text books, Covid, new friends, Paris, Rome, Marrakesh, Madrid, Athens and Venice, Mexico City and NYC... hard work but so fulfilling, art and architecture that opened my eyes wide I am so thankful for this phd journey and @jimdaichendt for his unwavering support 🩵 And I don't take for granted every piece of support and congratulations along the way!

The Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts welcomes applications from artists and scholars engaged in critical interdisciplinary research in philosophy, art theory, and aesthetics. This unique low-residency PhD program offers online courses (Fall and Spring semesters) and short, yet immersive international residencies guided by world-renowned faculty, artists, and scholars. Under the leadership of IDSVA president Simonetta Moro and core faculty members Howard Caygill, Dejan Lukić, and Silvia Mazzini, you are invited to join a global community of thinkers committed to examining how ideas emerge from specific topological, historical, and cultural contexts. Earn your PhD with three years of coursework (60 credits) followed by the dissertation. Applications are open to qualified holders of a BA or BFA. Students entering the program with an MA in art, philosophy, or related disciplines or an MFA may be eligible to transfer up to 5 credits toward the PhD, reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Visit our Admissions page for more information at the link in our bio. Apply now and start with the online first-year seminar in the Fall (September-December), then travel to Mexico City for your first international Winter residency part of the Topological Studies Program with our world-renowned faculty (January 6-13, 2027). Key visits include the Museo de Antropología, the Templo Mayor and Museum, Casa Azul (Frida Kahlo Museum), Museo de Bellas Artes, Anahuacalli museum, Trotsky’s house, among others. #ArtPhD #PhDArts #ArtSchoolPhD #ArtistPhilosopher #ArtsPhD #LowResidencyProgram #VisualArtsPhD #RollingAdmissions #FallEnrollment #SeptemberEnrollment #PHDforBFAapplicants #TravelToMexico

SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2026 Events: PAPER SESSION 1: “THE ARTIST-PHILOSOPHER-IN-PRACTICE” 9:00am-10:45am EST, Screening Room, 5th fl. Kimpton Hotel Eventi, 851 6th Ave. New York City Chaired by Dr. Angela Whitlock (Ph.D. ‘24) Panelists include: Dr. Angela Whitlock (Ph.D. ‘24), Justin Gallant (Cohort ‘24), Lucas Alan Dietsche (Cohort ‘23), Dr. Ana Fernández (Ph.D. ‘23), and Dr. Jocelyn Holmes (Ph.D. ‘24) PAPER SESSION 1: The Artist-Philosopher in Practice ROUNDTABLE SESSION 1 (IDSVA CORE FACULTY): “PARTICIPATIVE INTELLIGENCE” 11:00am-12:30pm EST, Screening Room, 5th fl. Kimpton Hotel Eventi, 851 6th Ave. New York City Chaired by Dr. Jocelyn Holmes (Ph.D. ‘24) Featuring: Dr. Howard Caygill, Dr. Dejan Lukić, Dr. Silvia Mazzini, Erin Perfect, and Dr. Elina Staikou ROUNDTABLE SESSION 1: (IDSVA Core Faculty) Participative Intelligence ALUMNI EXHIBITION POP-UP Gallery MC FROM 6-8pm.