Hunter College has named interdisciplinary artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty as the inaugural Ruth Stanton Chair of the Department of Art and Art History, President Ann Kirschner announced.
Rafferty — whose work and teaching spans painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and performance — assumes the post in the fall.
“We are thrilled to engage Sara Greenberger Rafferty as the inaugural Ruth Stanton Chair,” President Kirschner said. “A distinguished studio artist, she represents the vanguard of artistic thinking, and is also well-known as an inspiring teacher.
“We thank Howard Singerman for his skillful and insightful guidance of the department, and we thank the Ruth Stanton Foundation for its longtime support of student scholarships and exhibitions and the endowing of this chair.”
Rafferty comes to Hunter from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where she was professor and director of graduate studies in Photography. Before that, she was a faculty member at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass., and Suffolk County Community College (SUNY).
“Hunter College Art and Art History is at the center of three things I believe deeply in: art, public education, and New York City,” Rafferty said. “I consider Hunter College's studio art, art history, and gallery programs to be major treasures of our city, and I look forward to working and learning with the incredible Hunter community.”
Rafferty’s art has been exhibited all over the world. It is included in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Yale University Art Museum, the New Britain (Conn.) Museum of American Art, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.
“We were impressed with Sara's clarity and vision,” said Chair Singerman. “We look forward to welcoming her to the department as an artist colleague and a leader.”
The Ruth Stanton Chair was created last year. A child refugee from Nazi Germany, the late Ruth Schloss Stanton was a noted art collector whose philanthropy centered on those affected by war or economic hardship. At Hunter, her foundation has generously supported scholarships for students from disadvantaged and/or immigrant backgrounds who aspire to careers in the arts.
The Department of Art and Art History unites the academic study of Art History, Studio Art, and the Galleries. Students can study the history, theory and practice of art. They also can gain practical experience by assisting with organizational aspects of curating an exhibition, writing catalogue essays, or presenting art works in the gallery setting.
