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Carnegie Mellon University

An Invitation to Wander

This edition of CFA Magazine is filled to bursting. It’s an embarrassment of riches, running over with stories and testimonials of faculty, staff, students and alumni driven to use their gifts to shift the dominant narrative.

Like the Kraus Campo — source of this issue’s design theme — it’s an agora, a supercolliding marketplace of ideas. It’s also a string of small meditations on the impact CFA people have on this world when they allow themselves to wander off the beaten path.

I invite you to wander, see where it takes you. Step out of the school box and explore a story from outside your discipline. Follow an intriguing visual cue.

Finally, a note to alumni: We haven’t always been the greatest about staying in touch. Tell us how you’ve been making an impact or send us a story idea we may have overlooked. We are all the College.

With bated breath,

Mary Ellen Poole | Dean Mary Ellen Poole

 

School of Architecture

Studies of Stone

School of Design

There and Back Again

School of Drama

The ColLABo Project

School of Music

The Art of Composition

BXA Intercollege Degree Programs

Honoring Heritage Through K-Perfumery

Miller Institute for Contemporary Art

Design Unveiled for Expanded ICA

Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry

A New Cohort for Live Visuals

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Reflections

Master of Arts Management

From Infantry to Civic Arts Leader

Master of Entertainment Industry Management

Taught from the Inside Out

Events

Review of lit architecture work in a dark room.

[ Architecture Event ]

Spring 2024 Public Programs: Resolutions

January 27 – May 3

What is architecture's role in revolutionizing or repairing broken systems? Join us in conversations that call for both incremental and radical shifts within our discipline, profession and society.

Find more information about Public Programs

Why I give back: Francis Collins alumni story.

Spotlight Features

Felipe Castelblanco

[ Art Spotlight ]

A Different Kind of Intelligence

In the Age of AI, Felipe Castelblanco Searches for a More Organic Form of Knowledge

magazine cover from 2023 fall.

Looking for a past version?

You can find past digital and print versions of the magazine, starting with our 2018 inaugural magazine CFA MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

Tell us what you think!

Let us know what you hoped to see — and what you liked! Email us at contact-cfa@cmu.edu

College of Fine Arts Magazine

Publisher: Mary Ellen Poole, Dean, CFA
Executive Editor: Pam Wigley
Editor: Cally Jamis Vennare
Editor / Digital Content Designer: Alexis Morrell
Design Director: Mark Werle
Designers: Rob Azarcon, Kelsey Stark
Production Artist: Deborah Allen
Project Manager: Kara Kessler

Writers

Harrison Apple
Dan Fernandez
Dan Green
Elyse Howell
Joe Lyons
Meredith Marsh
Caroline McKinley
Jennifer Monahan
Alexis Morrell
Angelica Perez-Johnston
Andy Ptaschinski
Juliet Sorce
Lauren Stash
Gretchen Suárez-Peña
Pam Wigley

Design & Production

University Communications and Marketing

Images

Mark Baskinger
Matt Eich
Melinda Johnson
Jocelyn Mackay
Graham Murtha
Su min Park
Louis Stein
Emily Syes
Cally Jamis Vennare
Dylan Vitone
ZGF Architects

CFA Leadership

CFA Dean: Mary Ellen Poole
School of Architecture Head: Omar Khan
School of Art Head: Charlie White
School of Design Interim Head: Eric Anderson
School of Drama Head: Robert Ramirez
School of Music Interim Head: Joanna Bosse
BXA Senior Associate Dean of Interdisciplinary Initiatives: M. Stephanie Murray
Miller ICA Director: Elizabeth Chodos
Frank-Ratchye STUDIO for Creative Inquiry Director: Nica Ross
MAM Program Director: Jessica Bowser Acrie
MEIM Program Director: Daniel Green