This June the School of Visual Arts launched the new MFA Visual Narrative program, “Story Visualized.” Chaired by illustrator/comic book artist Nathan Fox, the low residency program brings students to New York City for three summers connected by two years of online study during the fall and spring semesters. The summer sessions concentrate on advanced writing, digital media and technique-based workshops. Working in tandem, the creative writing and visual studio workshops as well as analog and digital media studios create a unique and intensive environment—allowing the “Artist as Author” to thrive.

As the inaugural class hit the mid-point of their first summer session, I paid a visit, joining Nathan and fellow faculty member Edward Hemingway and Jim Rugg as students presented “Assignment Yellow.” This was the lead-up to their final project for the summer session, for which they were tasked with creating a five-panel narrative with a single character, using one color plus black—and working in teams of two. The assignment calls for speaking and performing the narrative, using whatever props and media figure into their program's structure, from the hand crafted to the digital.

First up were Melissa Malzkuhn and Ivory Nunez-Medrano whose character, a giraffe fashionista [below], tries on four outfits in a dressing room and on the fifth shot, arrives at a look to die for. Here, paper and ink reigned supreme, with the added value of scissors and glue to create an interactive component. A paper doll hand-out was also part of the program.

Faculty Edward Hemmingway, center; student Melissa Malzkuhn, right. Paper doll handout, left. Photos: Peggy Roalf unless noted.

Then Jenny Goldstick and Craig Coss presented the travels of a bouncing red ball, which/who takes off from the ticket line at the Eiffel Tower for a world tour of monuments, including the Taj Mahal, before returning to Paris [below]. This project was realized through a graphics program such as Adobe Illustrator.

Chair Nathan Fox critiques, left; ASL interpreter Libby Gatlin signs, center; student Craig Coss, standing at right, takes it in.

The third team, Steven Little and Ryan Weber, went analog-performance, creating a scenario reminiscent of Café Voltaire, with Dada-esque sound effects to bring a spy caper to it’s crashing [unintended but highly entertaining] conclusion, below.

After the presentations, the students returned to their studio work, as well as preparing for the open house which took place that evening [photo by Anna Eveslage above], while Nathan and Edward took one-on-one pitch proposals (photo below) in preparation for the “finals” on July 24^th. The public is invited to this Open Studio Night, to meet the students, see their Narrative Object | Objective Narrative presentations, and tour the MFA Visual Narrative nerve center. This event is free but reservations are required. Find out more on the MFA Visual Narrative blog.

The MFA Visual Narrative Lounge, where Nathan Fox and Edward Hemingway prepare a student for the Open Studio presentations.

The MFA Visual Narrative program is chaired by editorial illustrator and comic book artist Nathan Fox. His work has appeared in The New York Times, EW, Rolling Stone, Image, Vertigo, and Marvel Comics, and within projects for MTV, Burton, Nike, 1800, AOL and many more. Faculty include such diverse professional storytellers as art director and illustrator Jennifer Daniel; writer and information designer Alicia DeSantis; writer and illustrator Edward Hemingway; artist and printmaker Ross MacDonald; historian and critic Leonard Marcus; publisher and writer Dan Nadel; designer and artist Jeff Rogers; artist Jonathon Rosen; illustrator Matt Rota; illustrator, comic book artist and designer Jim Rugg; author Mark Sable; and writer/game producer Ben Zackheim.