Art Department Alumni

Jessica Kemmerling stands in the Martin-Mullen gallery at SUNY Oneonta, beside a woodcut print she entered in the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition. Kemmerling, a computer art and communication studies major from Owego, NY, will pursue a master’s in art direction at Virginia Commonwealth University following her graduation from SUNY Oneonta on May 16, 2015. The woodcut, titled Parkinson’s Disease, depicts her grandfather’s decline.
Jessica Kemmerling '15
Ayana Namada, an international student from Japan, graduated from SUNY Oneonta on May 16, 2015, with a bachelor’s degree in Art. She stands beside her oil painting titled Siwon, one of three of her works selected for the Annual Juried Student Art Exhibition in the Martin-Mullen gallery.
Ayana Namada '15

Gary Dominguez '16
After graduating in May 2016, Gary began working for the web design team at Directive.

Heather Miller '16
Heather was accepted in the M.S. Art Therapy and Counseling program at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. She will begin her graduate studies in fall 2016. She feels her studies at SUNY Oneonta prepared her well for this new chapter in her life.

Lindsey Johnson '15
Lindsey began working on an MS degree in Information Design and Technology at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. She also works as a student assistant for the Director of Marketing Enrollment in the Admissions office in the same institution, and as a Student Assistant on the Experience Design Team for NYS Office of Information Technology Services. She writes:
"All of my commitments as a student and employee have worked well together to help me learn and implement my learning into real life experiences. Of course, none of this would have been possible without my time at SUNY Oneonta. Even before I was enrolled in the Art program, the Fine Arts building was always my home. That feeling never changed when I did enroll in the Art program. I was fortunate enough to make lifelong friendships while immersed in the vibrant, art community of SUNY Oneonta. This was something truly special, and I always look forward to a visit to the campus, albeit a short one nowadays."

Vanessa Cameron '15
Vanessa was accepted to the New York Institute of Technology in 2016, where she will be pursuing her master's degree.

Marie Vigneau '14
Marie Vigneau was admitted to Graduate school at the School of Visual Arts where she is studying Curatorial Practice. She completed her Master's Thesis in April 2016, and created Ditto Magazine, a fashion and art publication.

Tony Carlone '13
Tony was accepted at the MFA program in Printmaking at SUNY New Paltz. He graduated in 2015.

Lee Pheil '12
Lee works as a Studio Assistant at Be Electric studios.

Charles Shider
Charles was accepted at an MFA program at University of Toronto

Luke Dogherty '11
After completing my Bachelors of Arts at Oneonta, with intense mentoring, guidance and support from the instructors in the Art department, I have received a full scholarship and teaching assistant position within the MFA program at the University of Buffalo. I will be starting in the Fall of 2011. I owe real thanks to many of the professors I worked with. They helped me prepare my portfolio, read and reread artists statements, and offered me independent studies to further particular interests of mine. The program at UB is an exciting blend of cross-disciplinary studies and they call it a degree in Visual Studies. It looks as though I will be teaching figure drawing in the fall, as well as beginning work on my first of four intensive semesters of theoretical and practical art studies.

Anastasia Cass '10
After graduation, Anastasia began working as the Visitor Experience Assistant at Munson Williams Proctor Art Institute. She writes: "As the first point of contact for people entering the museum, I meet thousands of visitors, students, art professionals, and artists every year. I work closely with the staff, artists, and faculty alike to schedule institutional and community art events. I get to see all stages of exhibition design, planning, and execution while working with the many needs of our exhibiting artists and collections staff. I feel truly blessed to be able to work in a place where art is happening in the wild every single day. If it wasn’t for my art professors at SUNY Oneonta encouraging me every step of the way, I would never have taken the leap to add Art as a double major on top of Fashion Design. It is because of their tutelage and guidance that I am able to wake up every day and contribute to the promotion and creation of the arts in my community."

Gabrielle Burger '09
Gabrielle was offered a Web Design position at the Graphics Arts Department of Albert Einstein College of Medicine in February 2010.

Brittany Weidel '09
is teaching art at a Lakota Indian School in South Dakota.

Daryl Cooper '08
I am currently the Gallery/ Exhibitions Coordinator at ArtsWestchester, the largest non-profit arts organization in New York State. I coordinate all aspects of the art exhibitions in our gallery space in downtown White Plains, NY as well as our gallery in Mt. Vernon, NY. My job requires me to complete loan agreements and condition reports on all of the artwork received and sold, as well as to install and de-install all of the shows. Recently, I made my curatorial debut with our current show, PATTERNS, an exhibition of contemporary quilts. While my job may prove challenging and somewhat stressful at times, I am so thankful that I get to wake up and do what I love every day. I am constantly around artists and creative thinkers, which not only makes me enjoy my job, but it also inspires me to keep working on my own art. SUNY Oneonta’s Art Department definitely prepared me to work in this field! I couldn’t see myself doing anything else!

Eve Macur '08
Eve works as a Graphic Artist in Brewster NY. She sent us this email in December 2008: "I just wanted to update the SUNY Oneonta art department with what I've been doing since I graduated in May 2008! I am now employed at Quester Assessments Inc. as a Graphic Artist. Questar is an educational publishing company. We create graduation qualifying exams (GQEs) for most of the mid-west in every grade level and several special needs exams. We build the tests from an item bank that was created by the Department of Education for that particular state and our own in-house group, as well as establish the layout for scannable documents (aka bubble answer sheets) and other test necessary materials. My co-workers are wonderful, it's a small group where I work so you get to know everyone. It can be a bit chaotic at times as most tests need to be administered on a specific day, but I can handle it thanks to what I've learned at SUNY Oneonta! I'm based in Brewster NY about an hour away from my house, I'm getting used to the commute. Hope all is well in Oneonta! I'll come visit soon!"

Juan Di Diego '07
Juan has been working at Intellisites since 2007. He is now (2009) a Senior Web Designer.

Erinn Harrington '07
Erinn was accepted at the Pratt Institute's Graduate Graphic Design program in 2007.

Peter Davidson '91
Peter started a non-profit called The Maritime Arts and Inspiration Center in Andros Island, Bahamas.

Nick D'Auria '07
Nick has been working in the Information Services Department of the City of White Plains, New York, since his senior year.

Jessica Weidman '07
Jessica began graduate studies in Graphic Design at Savannah College of Art and Design in 2007.

Robert Hall '06 - Illustrators of the Future Honor
Robert was a finalist in the "Illustrators of the Future", sponsored by Galaxy Press contest. He was flown to California for the ceremony which you can watch here. During the week-long event, he had the opportunity to meet and participate in workshops with other famous illustrators. His work is featured in "Writers for the Future, Vol. 24"

Greg Rowe
Class of 2006
Greg began working for Distributed Applications Technologies, located in Clifton Park, since his senior year in 2006. He currently works as a senior programmer at Nimbus Logic LLC which he co-founded.

Michael Aviles '06 email Michael
After graduation in 2006 from SUNY Oneonta, Michael enrolled in a graduate game development program in Southern Methodist University's Guildhall. Since 2008 he became a 3D World Artists at NetDevil in Louisville, Colorado. He has been working on LEGO Universe, an online LEGO-based video game.

Suzannah Rowntree '06 email Suzannah
Suzannah works as an Assistant Editor at Collected Editions at DC Comics. Previously, she worked in the art department at Archie Comics, and at Papercutz. She reports that it's a fantastic work environment with fun people. Suzannah is also a freelance Illustrator, Editor, and Writer.

Michael Kelly '06
Michael began working as a designer for The Soccer Hall of Fame at Oneonta since 2007.

Hilary Brosnihan '06
Hilary was accepted at the Coventry University's Computer Aided Product Design Graduate program in 2007. She worked at Leapfrog 3D Printers, and MakerBot Industries prior to her current position at Photocentric ltd.

Christopher Liatsis '05
Christopher began working as an editor at Total Training in 2006.

Jason Rodriguez '05
Jason became the co-owner of Residue Gallery in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Josh McLear '05
Works as the Campus Life Operations Coordinator at SUNY Potsdam, and runs his own Photography business.

Jennifer Knapp '05
Jennifer has been working as the Web Coordinator at SUNY Oneonta since 2005.

Simon Horrowitz '05
Simon began working in New York on 3D visualization projects for Iomedia in 2005.

Amanda Aloi '05
Amanda has begun attending Graduate classes at Syracuse University in 2006.

Justin Ward '05
Justin began working for the Dia Art Foundation soon after graduation in 2005, and also had two solo exhibitions in the same year. Subsequently, Justin worked for Sachs Studios, for Bonham Studios, and for Pritzker Art Handling. He received his MA from Columbia University in 2008, and his MFA from Savannah College of Art & Design in 2016.

Blaire Surgent '04
Blaire is now teaching design/woodworking and doubles as a wrestling coach at Gilman School, located in Baltimore MD. I get asked allot, why do you want to teach? My answer is that in college I had some cool professors and I want to be like them.

Chad Calhoun '03
"Currently, I'm working in Albany for a multimedia company called Overit Media. I mostly handle web design and development, however we do a lot of custom applications, presentations and print work. To see some of the work we do, check out overit.com. I really enjoy my job because of the freedom in creativity (and in the work environment). Oneonta has helped a lot to get me pointed in the right direction. I appreciate all the help."

Cynthia Lin '03
Cynthia works at Departure in the Albany International Airport. Part of the airport's Art & Culture program, the Departure museum shop showcases artwork and crafts from local artists and area museums such as the Albany Institute of History & Art, the Tang Teaching Museum, MassMOCA, and the Adirondack Museum. Her main duties at the shop include managing consignment inventory from over 150 vendors and interacting with museums and artists. She enjoys the diversity of her job and the chance to use the skills and knowledge she has acquired over the years and during her time at Oneonta. In her spare time, Cynthia continues to develop web sites. Her largest sites at this time are Tomination and SignalRoom.net; both promotional sites for musicians. Tomination has been recognized by musician Tom McRae, while SignalRoom.net is in partnership with SignalRoom.com, the official Signal Room site.
Cynthia currently lives in Albany, NY, but is looking for a way to
smuggle herself out and back to New Zealand.

Darren Carusone '02
Darren works as a Senior Designer for Regalo in Albany.

Julie Chakmakian (Mongello) '02
Julie has been working for Cannon Design in Boston since her graduation.

Leigh Penny '02
Leigh is the founder of pennydesigns

Rebecca Gurian '01 I am currently living in Brooklyn and working in the photo district in Manhattan. I work as a digital imaging specialist at one of New York's top photography distributors, Fotocare. I give tech support and training to pro photographers on the latest photographic software and hardware. My main areas of focus are on medium to large format digital camera backs, large format printers and scanners, and color management. Some of my top clients include the MET, MOMA, Jcrew, Tommy Hilfiger, and Annie Liebowitz. One of the highlights of my job is getting to do beta testing on new software and cameras before they are released. Right now I am doing testing and giving feedback on Leaf digital backs and software. I take part in weekly conference calls with the software engineers [] give my clients feedback. I love my job and am very thankful to the SUNY art department faculty for inspiring me to be creative and stick with a field I love. Exhibition at the New York State Museum in Albany Two of our Alumni, Scott Hall and Sarah Woodward have been chosen to show their artwork in the Best of Show Student Exhibit at the Exhibition Hall, New York State Museum in Albany, NY from May 13th to August 6th, 2006

Tracy Shaw '01
Tracy worked at Mazer Digital Media as a multimedia designer after graduation, later she moved to Boston and began working for Upromise, Inc.. Tracy is now a Web Designer at NameMedia, Inc.

Janet Yuen '00
Janet currently works as a Creative Director at Buyouts Insider. She previously worked as a Graphic Designer at UBS Alternative Investments in New York.

Nick Lakiotes '99
Nick moved to Los Angeles and worked for several media companies, as an art director or animator. In 2003 he co-founded Six Point Harness.

Peter Davidson '91
Peter Davidson is offering some great classes on Andros Island, Bahamas. Peter started a non-profit called The Maritime Arts and Inspiration Center. MAIC is solar and wind powered sustainable living facility right on the beach. We are teaching interdisciplinary courses in traditional Bahamian arts to college level students and adults. Woodcarving, Fiber Arts, and Wooden Boat building are being offered this year during breaks. Please check out the Maritime Arts & Inspiration Center for more information.
I had a great time in Oneonta. Even though it was way too cold.

William Mitchell '80
William works as a printmaker in New Hampshire. " In 1996, the Bank of New Hampshire commissioned his purple mountain "View From Indian Head" for use on its debit card." [sic] He also teaches adult and children's classes in printmaking, painting and cartooning. "I am interested in helping people explore and enjoy their creative potential," he explains.His New Hampshire Printmaking Project is an ongoing effort to introduce young people to several printmaking techniques. He uses their feelings and ideas about New Hampshire as a departure point in developing their imagery." You can see his work at mitchellserigraphprints.com

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