The Studio for Interrelated Media

The Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) undergraduate major is intended for student artists interested in a curriculum that supports idea-centered, interdisciplinary, and non-media speciﬁc artistic practice, along-side collaboration and self-governance. SIM majors work with sound, light, motion, digital and experimental media, live performance, public practice, interactive installations, event production, print and spoken word, and/or a combination thereof. The SIM program, the first of its kind in the country, was founded in 1969 influenced by the history of the educational experiments of A.S. Neill’s progressive Summerhill School (1921-present), the Black Mountain College (1933 – 1957), the Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T.) project (1967), as well as developments in the art world in the early 60’s that advocated the dematerialization of the art object and launched Performance Art as a genre. Many of these foundational principles still infuse the current manifestation of the program today. SIM has remained at the cutting edge of artistic experimentation for over 50 years.

The Studio for Interrelated Media is a program where the choice of media used by student artists to realize their work is not assumed a priori. Some students start with a concept and then explore and research the appropriate medium to express it within a contemporary context. Others question the formal properties of different media and the ways that meaning is communicated and embodied by them to discover the ideas and concepts that emerge from that process. Hybrid learning practices are supported as individuals question form and discover their goals as artists. This discovery occurs while students are engaged in a participatory educational experiment where they have the opportunity to shape their learning experience as well as their community. They do this by holding town meetings and using social media to make decisions about the program, including: the content being presented; course offerings; scheduling of events; how budget money is spent; and how to critique student work. The SIM curriculum balances an individualized path of development alongside the experience of being a civic artist.

SIM Majors learn to be collaborative, entrepreneurial and self-directed.
SIM Majors have access to cutting edge audio, visual and computing technology
SIM Majors have access to the Pozen Center for Interrelated Media, a large multi-use venue with a lighting grid and HD projection system.
SIM Majors chart their own educational pathway based on their interests and artistic vision.
SIM Majors collaborate with artists across disciplines, concepts, and skill level.
SIM Majors have access to curatorial experience through our own student-run gallery and performance arts festival that is re-invented every year.

SIM art overlaps and intersects with many other disciplines in order to encourage students to invent and develop experimental art forms, new directions, and unusual contexts. Each semester SIM provides a selection of courses in many media, such as: web art and digital distribution; video editing and production; interactive media and computer-controlled installations; dance techniques, choreography and improvisation; performance art and spoken word; the interrelationship between art and science; theater production and stage lighting; sound performance, composition, recording, and editing; event planning and production.

The Studio for Interrelated Media required Major Studio course (MPSM276, 376 and 476) is student powered. Students decide how to program, produce, critique, organize and self-govern each class meeting under faculty advisement. This course gives students the chance to work alongside their colleagues at every level (sophomores, juniors and seniors) every semester for all three years in the program. It gives students a rare and unique opportunity to experiment, to fail, to succeed – students own the process of the educational journey and leverage this experience once they graduate. They are exposed to the “real world” while they are still in school while they are learning their craft, developing their ideas, and solidifying their desire.

The SIM program manages a digital sound studio, a digital production suite, a 350-seat flexible performance space, and a store-house of analog and digital equipment ranging from a theremin and a mirror ball to contemporary digital production tools. SIM students also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience curating, designing, and producing by annually re-inventing the Eventworks experimental arts festival and managing SIM’s Godine Family Gallery.

Students that graduate from SIM are uniquely prepared for lives as self-motivated artists as well as professionals in many commercial and non-profit fields. SIM grads have started their own galleries, TV shows, and businesses; worked as non-linear film and sound editors in Hollywood, New York and Boston (WGBH, ZOOM); as stage crew for theaters in New York City; as web developers for award-winning studios; as educators at Harvard, Stanford, Mills, Carnegie Mellon, and the New England Aquarium; and as practicing, exhibiting, and/or performing artists around the world. Check out this page to learn more about our Alumni.

SIM Links

If you are a current SIM student, please join https://massartsim.slack.com
If you are an Alum join the SIM FB group
Read “Revisiting the Sandbox” (Sandbox_10.19.16.pdf) a monograph written by Nita Sturiale, SIM Alum and Professor.
Please view this page for information about the SIM Major Requirements needed to graduate with a BFA as a SIM Major at MassARt.
Visit Harris Barron’s website that he shares with Ros Barron, his wife and collaborator of over 60 years – harrisandrosbarron.com
Video content is on our Vimeo site https://vimeo.com/massartsim;
Sound archive is here: https://studioforinterrelatedmedia.bandcamp.com/
Or listen to our StudioInterrelatedMedia Playlist on Spotify
Check out the SIM Vimeo channel.
Wikipedia pages:
- About Harris Barron, SIM founder and Professor Emeritus
- About Donald Burgy, Professor Emeritus
- About Dawn Kramer, Professor Emeritus

Eventworks

Eventworks began in 1977 as a multimedia international festival of film, music, and performance art conceived and produced by the SIM program. It was founded to provide venues for new experimental art and to create a link between the college environment and the professional art world. In the thirty-four years since its inception, Eventworks has evolved into a student-run production organization. Eventworks has presented over three hundred artists working in music, installation, film, video, performance, dance, sound and more.

The annual Eventworks festival is a completely student-run nonprofit organization for the arts. Typically students produce this month-long, city-wide festival in which they curate the work of emerging and established artists and scholars while also running all aspects of the production: curating, technical operations, publicity and fundraising. However, as the hands of Eventworks changes each year the goals and vision of the group change so the festival can be anything from one year long to one day long.

Each year, Eventworks producers are self-selected and elected (if need be) among the students in the SIM program. The MassArt Student Government Association, the Studio for Interrelated Media program, and fundraising efforts throughout the year, provides funding for the Eventworks festival, and other events.

Eventworks Producers

1977: Joel Rubin, Michelle Snyder
1978: Joanne Guertin
1979: Michael Swisher, Susi Walsh, Todd McConchie
1980: Christian Marclay, Dan Kohnfelder
1981: Ingrid Sell
1982: James Williams
1983: San Shoppell, Laura Hanafin
1984: San Shoppell, Keith Kurman, Chris Shine
1985: Max Azanow
1986: Eventworks 10 Laurie McKenna, J. Barr, Sue Cousineau
1987: Nita Sturiale, Tony Maciag
1988: Kate Redmond
1989: Keith Godbout, Fido Rodenbeck, Lolly Lincoln
1990: Fido Rodenbeck
1991: Mark Morey, Maya Hayuk, Jon Lukenoff
1992: Margo Gibson
1993: Jim McKay
1994: Bob O’Connell, Joshua Gigantino
1995: Nicole McDonald, Jason Arnone
1996: Bobby Abate, Meredith Davis, Sue Grillo, Corrina Quist
1997: Lynne Stabile, Mia Castor, Jenny Ciafone
1998: Sharon Benedict, Vassili Sotos, Clay S. Fernald
1999: Marty Allen, Stefan Raither
2000: Maile Colbert, Roy Simmonds
2001: Jason Talbot, Brian Sniokaitis
2002: Ben Sisto, Janelle Vasseur
2003: Caroline Bloomberg, Matt Mazzone
2004: Sean Ryle, Sarah Ibrahim, Peter Berdovsky
2005: Jamie O’Brien, Meghan Tomeo, Matt Howell
2006: Kristen Palumbo, Emily Geanacopoulos, Casey Moran, Andrew DeVecchio
2007: Andrew DeVecchio, Dan DeLuca, Sean O’Brien, George Scharoun, Jake Turcotte
2008: Jeremy Cousins, Tom Fahey, Mark Persons, Andrea Zampitella, Daniel Kenney
2009: Sandra Aronson, Ben Brown, Paige Peterson – catalog link
2010: Kara Stowkowski, Ian Deleon – catalog link
2011: Brendan Antonelli, Scott Hadley, Dyllan Nguyen, Aly Stosz – catalog link
2012: Monica Chiang, Johnny Chanthavong, Alex Kennedy, Brooke Scibelli – catalog link, website link,
2013: Anthony Blomley-Cassetta, Noah Roscoe, Nell Robinson, Merri Sibley – catalog link
2014: Kelsey Trottier, Molly Rennie, Megan Dauphinais
2015: Polina Protsenko, Caitlyn Pozerski, Luke Dillon
2016: Dan Callahan, Jessie Hanson (FA15), Elizabeth St. Germain, Iman Louis-Jeune (SP16)
2017: Sammi Hansen, Micheala Bocchino
2018: Kelli Davies, Ryann Feldman
2019: Stephanie Aguayo, Kailey Coppens, Ali Beaudette (FA18) – catalog link
2020: Randy Aguilar, Molly Breen, Schmo Edwards, Maggie Favazza (SP20), Amber Hayes
2021: Ace Epstein, Julia Ferron (FA20), Sen Luc Miglin, Alyssa Moore (FA20), Eddie O’Donoghue (FA20), Kay Ehwa (SP21)
2022: Re Delaney, Ethan Roy, Max Ryan (SP22)
2023: Kay Ehwa, Owen Greenfield, Emmy Kelley, Genesis Lara, Onyx Raia, Megan Ross, Kyra Stupik
2024: Yssa Boma, Rosa Doherty, Amelie Fisher, Milena Mousli, Anadia Osorio, Robin Sielicki, Faerie Seddon, Andrew Vincent, Hannah Zahr

Godine Family Gallery

The Godine Family Gallery serves as an educational tool for students in the Studio for Interrelated Media (SIM) who are interested in curatorial work and event production – much like Eventworks. Since its inception, the Godine Gallery has been entirely student-run. Because of the direct involvement of students, the space reflects the conversations present within the institution as well as the larger creative world. Additionally, the Godine Family Gallery has exhibited works of MassArt visiting artists, including interdisciplinary artist Marguerite Kahrl (www.kahrl.com) and sculptors and installation artists, the de la Torre Brothers (www.delatorrebros.com).

The Godine Family Gallery is one of several student-run galleries on the Massart campus. As a professional gallery set in an educational institution, the Godine Family Gallery is a means by which students can fully realize the potential of their artistic practice. The gallery is set apart by its focus: beyond merely acting as a means of showing work, the gallery serves as a nexus point where students, faculty, practicing artists, and other members of the community can take part in an intellectual, cultural and creative exchange. Because of its liberal approach to the institutional definition of the gallery’s role, the space is structurally organic, moving from exhibition to event, 2d and 3d work to performance. The Godine Family Gallery is an ever-changing and dynamic setting, growing and developing with each year of student involvement.

Godine Family Gallery Curators and Managers

2005: Lina Marie Giraldo
2006: Sean O’Brien
2007: Nika Nunley, Melanie Bernier, Patrick Mulligan
2008: Megan Sutherland, Adam Giangregorio
2009: Ali Reid, Evan Smith, Laurel O’Connell – catalog link
2010: Samuel D. Toabe, Matthew Serpico – catalog link
2011: Heather Armstrong, Kimberly O’Toole – catalog link
2012: Stephanie Street Dvareckas – catalog link
2013: Nicollette Bovat, Tyler Murphy – Take Care Magazine link
2014: Marissa Bedard, Esther Moon, Adrian Scott – catalog link
2015: Jenny Proscia, Jamieson Edson – catalog link
2016: Emma Lanctôt, Renee Silva – catalog link
2017: Ena Kantardzic (FA), Ian Solaski (FA), Julian Cintron, Shannon Gallagher, May Singleton-Kahn,
2018: Marisa Cote, Felix Kauffman, Andrew Grimanis – catalog link
2019: Sunny Chen, Jilliane Mortimer (FA), Journey Temple (SP), Ash Wasilewski
2020: Gina Lindner, Keagan Marcella, Gabby Schaab
2021: Erica Gaeta, Sam Viscosi
2022: Isaiah Crespo-Doherty, A’knesha Davis-Darkwah, Adine Raboy
2023: Emily Canales, Hannah Richo
2024: Sophia Kasparian, Veronica Labanca, Hannah Zahr

Godine Family Gallery Managers and Eventworks Producers receive academic credit by registering in the Event Planning and Production course.

Harris Barron Scholarship

This student scholarship of Massachusetts College of Art and Design Foundation, Inc. is awarded through a generous gift from Ros and Harris Barron, in addition to donations from friends and family. This scholarship is established in the name of Emeritus Professor Harris Barron—who taught at Massachusetts College of Art for 23 years, was the founder of the Studio for Interrelated Media Department (SIM) in 1970, and was the first chair of the ensuing Media Department (MPA).

The Harris Barron Scholarship is awarded each year to a junior student, continuing through the senior year, in the Studio for Interrelated Media Department (SIM), selected by that department’s faculty, based on exceptional and/or innovative artistic merit with consideration for financial need.

SIM Majors that have completed 3 semesters of SIM Major Studio are invited to submit the following by April 1 to the SIM department chair: Cover letter, Artist Statement, Senior Year Plan, Portfolio.

Harris Barron Scholarship Recipients

2010: Ian Deleon
2011: Dyllan Nguyen
2012: Alex Kennedy
2013: Nicollette Bovat
2014: Annalisa Quagliata
2015: Polina Protsenko
2016: Dan Callahan
2017: Montana Gulbrand
2018: Ryann Feldman
2019: Keagan Marcella
2020: Ja’Hari Ortega
2022: Re Delaney
2023: Owen Greenfield

Micah Danemayer Scholarship

Micah Danemayer, a 2011 graduate of Studio For Interrelated Media program, passed away in the Oakland, CA, Ghost Ship warehouse fire on December 2, 2016. Micah was a music industry entrepreneur who worked as a producer, curator, and organizer for an ongoing experimental music series called ‘Trance Mutations,’ under the company name of Obscura Machina. He was working as a deejay at the Oakland event that evening. To honor their son’s memory, the Danemayer family has established a scholarship fund to benefit a Studio For Interrelated Media major demonstrating financial need chosen by the faculty in collaboration with the MassArt Scholarship committee.

Micah Danemayer Scholarship Recipients

2017: Michaela Bocchino
2018: Kelli Fox
2019: Nadia Orcel
2020: Jeremiah Bermel
2021: Indë Francis
2022: Kyra Stupik
2023: Genesis Lara

SIM Faculty and Staff, 1970 – Present

Harris Barron*, Professor Emeritus (1969–1988, Harris passed away in 2017)
www.harrisandrosbarron.com
Joe Upham, Studio Manager (1970–1974)
Donald Burgy*, Professor Emeritus (1974–2001)
www.donaldburgy.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Burgy
Richard Collier, Studio Manager (1974–1978)
Dawn Kramer, Professor Emeritus (1976–2014)
dawnkramer.info
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_Kramer
Bruce Robert Bowen, Studio Manager (1978–2010)
John Holland*, Professor Emeritus (1980–2009) johnhollandcomposer.wordpress.com
Lowry Burgess*, Professor (1981–1989, Lowry passed away in 2020)
www.lowryburgessfoundation.org
http://www.art.cmu.edu/news/faculty/lowry-burgess-1940-2020/
Dana Moser*, Professor (1986 – present)
https://curiousart.org
Fred Wolflink, Electronic Projects Guru (1986 – present)
Ellen Rothenberg, Visiting Lecturer (1989 – 1993)
Leila Daw*, Professor (1990–2000)
www.leiladaw.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Daw
Jacqueline Casselly, Department Assistant (1996 – 2020)
Nita Sturiale*, Professor (2000 – present)
Antony Flackett, AV Manager and Adjunct Faculty (?? – present)
Denise Marika, MFA Program Coordinator (2005–2014, Denise passed away in 2018)
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bostonglobe/name/denise-marika-obituary?id=1738137
Eric Freeman, Studio Manager and Adjunct Faculty (2006 – present)
Kianga Ford, Associate Professor (2006–2009)
Elaine Buckholtz*, Professor (2010 – present)
Heidi Kayser, Adjunct Faculty (2010)
Max Azanow, Studio Manager and Adjunct Faculty (2011 – present)
Sandrine Schaefer, Adjunct Faculty (2013-2021)
Ben Bigelow, Assistant Professor (2014-2015)
Jimena Bermejo, Adjunct Faculty (2015 – 2018)
Dana Colley, Adjunct Faculty (2015)
Juan Obando*, Professor (2015-2022)
juanobando.com
Tomashi Jackson, Assistant Professor (2017-2018)
Darren Cole, Assistant Professor (2018 – 2019)
Elizabeth Mezzacappa, Department Assistant (2020 – present)
Crystal Bi, Assistant Professor (2022 – 2023)
Corey Smithsom, Adjunct Faculty (date unknown)
Stefan Moore, Adjunct Faculty (date unknown)
There are more – working on our records…help us remember – if you have taught or worked in the SIM department send a reminder to nsturiale@massart.edu.

SIM SITE

SIM has been an early adopter of Internet technologies and the program has embraced and integrated them into the SIM Department curriculum since before the existence of the Web, going back to the 80’s. The first MassArt web server was created as an initiative of Dana Moser and the SIM Department in the mid-1990s with student participation in the design process. In February 2003, students, Matt Karl and August “Kai” Kaiser, along with Professor Dana Moser, launched the first version of http://sim.massart.edu, a community contact portal and face book. It is also used to record student presentations and production schedules and share syllabi, calendars, research guides, studio management information, discussion boards, and portfolios. For historical perspective, Facebook was launched February 2004. The site was built with an open source software stack (Linux/Apache/MySql/PHP) on commodity hardware and had a DNS entry created for it. Over the years, Matt Karl has continually re-written the interface for the SIM website, adapting to the specific needs of our department’s faculty and students. At this point we have a custom-built Content Management System (CMS) that others have used as a reference. Our department emphasizes and promotes student participation, and we used the server to help in the instruction of students who were interested in network interactions and system administration. You can see a history of the development of the SIM site on the Wayback machine – (https://web.archive.org/web/*/sim.massart.edu).

About SIM