News and Media

Published: Jan 14, 2011

SCAD deFINE ART 2011 returns next month with an extraordinary lineup featuring some of the art world's freshest, most notable names. One of the university's newest signature events, deFINE ART will again take place at SCAD Savannah and SCAD Atlanta, bringing professionals, students, alumni and communities together for a week of unprecedented lectures, exhibitions, student showcases, performances and other special events.

Scheduled for Feb. 22-26, SCAD deFINE ART is in its second year and promises to delight all with one-of-kind opportunities to hear from leading artists and art professionals, along with SCAD students, professors and alumni. A complete deFINE ART 2011 calendar of events and full list of participants will be available soon.

In keeping with SCAD's reputation as the premier university for art and design education, this year's SCAD deFINE ART was announced at a special preview event during December's Art Basel Miami Beach in Miami. The Miami event is considered to be "the most important art show in the United States and a cultural and social highlight for the Americas."

"SCAD's 2011 deFINE ART preview brunch in Miami attracted a high-caliber group of artists, collectors, curators from around the world, press and professionals," said SCAD Executive Director of Exhibitions Laurie Ann Farrell. "The preview generated a great deal of buzz about SCAD's School of Fine Arts and interest in the deFINE ART program."

SCAD deFINE ART is one of the university's many unparalleled programs that brings together students and professionals for meaningful interactions. This year, SCAD deFINE ART will honor Marina Abramović, a pioneer of performance art as a visual art form. The vast creative visions and scholarship that exist in fine arts will be further exemplified by events and guests such as:

• Gary Tinterow, the Englehard Chairman of Nineteenth-Century, Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art;
• Sarah Thornton, author of "Seven Days in the Art World" and contributing writer for The Economist;
• Sarah Lewis, independent curator, author and member of President Obama's Arts Policy Committee program;
• Paul D. Miller aka DJ Spooky that Subliminal Kid, an acclaimed experimental hip-hop musician and conceptual artist, who will present a multimedia performance (for an interview with him from a previous SCAD visit, click here.

And exhibitions at SCAD galleries featuring the work of Mark Bradford, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Yoko Ono, Andy Goldsworthy, Mona Hatoum, Do Ho Suh, Kimsooja, Andreas Kocks and JuYeon Kim, among others.

SCAD's inaugural deFINE ART festival attracted thousands of visitors to SCAD Savannah and SCAD Atlanta in November 2009 and featured acclaimed artists and professionals such as Marilyn Minter, Trenton Hancock Doyle and Richard Vine. A highlight of the debut deFINE ART was a standing-room-only closing-night performance from famed artist Nick Cave that involved the work of 20 SCAD students. The performance, which drew nearly 1,000 guests, showcased Cave's "Soundsuits," which were later seen in Vogue, demonstrating that SCAD remains in the vanguard of art and design and a clear reason why this year's event shouldn't be missed. To see a video and interview with Cave, click here.

SCAD will provide videos and special interview podcasts with the guests of deFINE ART 2011. Watch for those on SCAD.edu and iTunes.