Boston University College of Fine Arts

10/14/2026

CREATIVES IN PRACTICE: What was BU School of Visual Arts Director Marc Schepens up to this past summer? He, along with a group of artists, exhibited their artwork in the group exhibition "42" at the David Shelton Gallery in Houston, Texas. Curated by Jeremy DePrez and Dana Frankfort, the exhibition explored abstraction not as a style, but as a way of thinking that organizes information, tests relationships, and shapes meaning. 🖼️

Schepens’ painting, Untitled (April 3, 2024), is part of an ongoing family of paintings begun in 2018–19. For Schepens, the paintings serve as markers of his presence. “Each canvas is titled with the day it was completed, operating as a literal, existential journal that declares: I was here on this day, observing the world around me,” says Schepens. “This systematic tracking of time speaks to art’s phenomenological and perceptual powers, a durational encounter between my body, the canvas, and the passage of time itself.” 🕰️

In CFA’s Creatives in Practice, Schepens shares more about his practice; how his roles as artist, professor, and administrator intertwine; and what he would tell a student starting a career in visual arts.

“An artist’s primary focus should be building a self-sustaining, generative practice rather than chasing the success of individual works," says Schepens. "A practice driven by continuous curiosity and inquiry naturally yields new formal and conceptual questions, sustaining an artist over a lifetime.” 💡🙌

More in CFA News ➡️ http://spr.ly/6187BHHYfd

10/14/2026

10/13/2026

STARTING TODAY: Now through October 23, don't miss out on participating in CFA's third annual Food Drive! 🥫📦 🤝 All members of the CFA community (students, faculty, staff, friends 🐾) can donate food to the BU Food Pantry to provide meals to Boston University students in need. ❤️

Acceptable food item donations include brand-new, non-perishable food in small sizes, including grains, pasta, ramen, canned vegetables, fruits, soup, canned meats, pasta sauce, healthy cereal, granola bars, and oatmeal. Drop off your food items during the food drive in the designated bin at the CFA Dean’s Office.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of our students ❤️ See a full list of items you can donate ➡️ http://spr.ly/6180BHE0qq

📆 October 13 - 23
📍 CFA Dean's Office, Room 230, 855 Commonwealth Ave.
🕐 9am - 5pm

10/13/2026

MEET: Amelia Manicke (CFA’29), an undergraduate student studying graphic design at BU School of Visual Arts. Originally from Monroe, Connecticut, Amelia came to Boston University not only because it is a large school in a big city, but because it also has a great art program that she aspired to be a part of. ❤️ 🐾

“The opportunities at BU felt endless,” says Amelia, who has been able to immerse herself in the culture of Boston’s art scene during her first year. Being able to study new pieces and engage in various studio coursework has allowed her to strengthen her skills in design and has helped her discover which mediums she works best with. She was able to leverage these skills over the summer to build her portfolio and understand the digital world further. 🎨

Read more about Amelia and check out her work ➡️ http://spr.ly/6188BHELxe

10/12/2026

LUMINOUS DETAILS: Katherine Vetne (CFA'09) remembers the moment she learned about the medium that has come to define her career. She was taking a painting techniques course, and Richard Raiselis, a longtime BU School of Visual Arts professor who retired in summer 2025, was guiding the class through the steps of preparing chalk gesso—a traditional mixture of glue, chalk or marble dust, and pigment. He also handed out pieces of silver wire so the students could experiment with the materials.

"We just made some little marks,” says Vetne. “And I fell in love.” ✍️❤️ Metalpoint predates the invention of pencils. Medieval artists sketched with metal on parchment, and the practice thrived during the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci’s Bust of a Warrior, which he drew with silver on prepared paper, remains a classic of the art form.

Those few minutes in class were formative for Vetne, who has been creating metalpoint still life drawings for more than a decade. “Everyone was making really colorful, gestural paintings—that’s the legacy that Boston University is known for—but there was something I didn’t relate to,” she says. “Metalpoint cut out all of that extra noise. Limiting your choices so much, with these delicate lines, was exactly the place I wanted to start from.”

Vetne is drawn to objects tied to social customs, celebrations, and wealth. Her drawings have evolved from solitary items to more complex compositions. Her imagined dinner parties eschew traditional place settings for unlikely combinations of items, which she arranges to suggest chaos. She often has politics on her mind, and those themes emerge in her art as well.

Learn about Vetne's work and ✨process✨ in the latest issue of CFA magazine ➡️ http://spr.ly/6184BH6jEC

10/10/2026

INTRODUCING: An accomplished ethnomusicologist and an interdisciplinary theatre artist have joined CFA this fall, bringing fresh perspectives and expertise. ✍️🎼📚🎭

Boston University School of Music welcomes Dr. Vicky Mogollón Montagne as Assistant Professor of Music, Musicology. Mogollón Montagne (she/ella) is an ethnomusicologist exploring spirituality, violence, and affect in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a particular focus on Venezuela and its diaspora.

CFA has also expanded its faculty with one visiting appointment at Boston University CFA School of Theatre. Arshan Gailus (they/them), Visiting Assistant Professor of Sound Design, is an interdisciplinary artist who has worked extensively as a sound designer and composer for theater companies like Shakespeare & Company, ArtsEmerson, and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, among others.

Learn more about Boston University's newest arts faculty members! ➡️ http://spr.ly/6181BG7zs7

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10/09/2026

READ: Boston University's annual Fringe Festival is here, and it's celebrating 30 years with a trio of performances! 🎉

A collaboration between Boston University Opera Institute and Boston University CFA School of Theatre, BU's Fringe Festival is named after the famous, long-running Edinburgh Fringe Festival, putting a spotlight on lesser-known opera and theatrical works.

This year's productions embody the fringe spirit of the festival and celebrate student artistry. ✨ Boston University faculty and alums direct the two operas and one theatrical production included in the festival lineup, while students take center stage as performers, designers, and musical conductors in the intimacy of Studio ONE’s black box theater.

“It is the freedom of exploring operas [and theatre works] that aren’t done that often in a welcoming and encouraging space, so [students are] free of any predisposed opinions about how this should be done,” says William Lumpkin, BU Opera Institute's Artistic Director and associate professor of music at Boston University School of Music. “They can have ownership and individual connection that’s honest to them.”

Read more on BU's 2026 Fringe Festival! ➡️ http://spr.ly/6181BG73WV

⭐ IT'S SHOWTIME ⭐
🍸 The Seven Deadly Sins [opera]
📆 October 9 - 11

🐦‍⬛ Vinkensport [opera]
📆 October 23 - 25

🪟 The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window [theatre]
📆 November 5 - 7

10/08/2026

10/08/2026

HAPPENING SOON: Charting Our Future, Transformation in Action.

Join us live as President Melissa Gilliam explores the progress Boston University is making across the four pillars of our Strategic Framework. Learn how people across BU are turning ideas into action. 💪💡

🕟 Tune in today at 4:30 p.m. ET ➡️ http://spr.ly/6187BG4Qrz

10/07/2026

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM: As the sole art teacher at The Maimonides School in Brookline, Massachusetts, Oliver Perry (CFA’27) takes great pride in working with students from early childhood through 12th grade, teaching visual art and art history. 🎨

Oliver, a graduate student at BU School of Visual Arts pursuing a Master of Art in Art Education with licensure, grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, later moving to New York City in his teenage years. In NYC, Perry worked part-time as an art teacher in an after-school program. At Boston University, he's completed a handful of courses in his graduate program and has found SVA's immersive Summer Studios program especially valuable. "It introduced me to a variety of artistic media and inspired new lesson-plan ideas that I can adapt and incorporate into my own classroom." 🧑‍🏫

In CFA’s Beyond the Classroom series, Oliver reflects on the impact his teaching has had on his students and what he’s learned along the way as he continues to grow as an art educator, illustrator, and also a magician! 💫 🎩

"I began at this school as a first-year teacher, and the administration gave me the support, patience, and space to learn from my mistakes and develop my teaching practice," says Oliver. "Before I arrived, the school did not have an annual art show. I am proud to have established one and helped build a stronger visual arts culture that recognizes and celebrates student creativity." ❤️👏

Read Q&A ➡️ http://spr.ly/6184BGNOl4