October 31, Raafi Rivero
Raafi Rivero has directed two feature films and numerous shorts, in addition to work in design. His directing credits include a suite of promos for HBO, content for Microsoft, Sony, and the Rockefeller Foundation. In 2019 Raafi directed Legacy Lives On, an hour-long documentary for Prudential. His short film Their Eyes Were Watching Gummy Bears played more than 20 film festivals, winning honors in multiple cities. Raafi’s music videos have millions of views, including works for Styles P and Ghostface Killah. 72 Hours: a Brooklyn Love Story?, Raafi’s first feature film, premiered at the LA Film Festival, has screened the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and is currently streaming on Amazon. Raafi's arts/activism project Unarmed has been covered by several TV outlets and was featured in the YouTube special Black Renaissance. Unarmed has been supported by the Kokrobitey Institute, Leon Gallery, and the Foundation for the Contemporary Arts. Articles about Unarmed have appeared in Design Observer, SLAM magazine, and the New York Times.
November 4, Phil Vanderhyden
Phil Vanderhyden (b. 1978, Menasha, Wisconsin) lives and works in Troy, New York. Vanderhyden earned an MFA from Northwestern University in 2004 and a BFA from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2001. His paintings, videos and curatorial projects have been reviewed in Art in America, Artforum, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, among others. His current work consists primarily of large-scale, animated wall works and theatrical performances. Using special effects software, he draws together motifs from areas as seemingly disparate as finance, fortune telling, role play gaming and developmental psychology. Recent work along these lines includes installations and performances at Friedrich Petzel Gallery, The Poor Farm, The Front Triennial, Issue Project Room and Carriage Trade.
November 7, DAVIDSON - RAFAILIDIS
The interest underlying much of work of Davidson Rafailidis is the friction between the original design intentions for spaces and buildings, and the much richer built reality and unpredictable lives that buildings inevitably have. In most of their work, they study existing built conditions—sometimes these studies evolve into built works and sometimes the studies take the form of documentation (drawings, photographs, writing). The realized work of DAVIDSON RAFAILIDIS embraces frugality; projects are accomplished on lean budgets and are seen as case studies in financially accessible architecture: space for everyone.
Davidson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts with distinction from Mount Allison University before studying architecture at Dalhousie University and the Architectural Association School of Architecture. She teaches at the Knowlton School of Architecture.
Rafailidis studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences, Munich, and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London (UK) with the support of a German Academic Exchange (DAAD) Scholarship. He teaches at the Knowlton School of Architecture.
November 21, SMALL STUFF
Joe Marianek is a designer, creative director, and educator. He is partner at Small Stuff, a design studio based in New York City. Prior to co-founding Small Stuff, Joe held design leadership positions at Apple and Pentagram. He is a president emeritus of AIGA, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, New York Chapter. He has served as an adjunct faculty at the School of Visual Arts, and the Rhode Island School of Design, where he is an alumni. He currently teaches thesis at Parsons School of Design. Marianek’s work has been recognized by the AIGA, the Art Directors Club, the Type Directors Club, D&AD, 50 Books / 50 Covers, and others. He received the Print “20 Under 30” award, and was named a “Young Gun” by the Art Directors Club. His recent collaboration with the Equal Justice Initiative on the National Memorial for Peace and Justice received the highest honors from the Society for Experiential Graphic Design.
