2009

MFA Visual Arts

"My professors taught me how to see the possibilities in my work."

Alison Williams' future is wide open. Having received the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant for her work "The Green House," Alison approaches graduation from AIB's MFA Visual Arts Program with inspiration and opportunity readily available to her. "My mentors at AIB, Duston Spear, Andrew Mowbray, and Bernd Haussmann helped me to explore and play with the possibilities of my art. This opened me up to try new things, which led me to create this project." Beginning with the intersection of art and gardening, the project now includes the structure of a greenhouse as both storage for painting and as a canvas itself. "I'm really enjoying the exploration of people's interaction with the structure as a house and as a piece of art."

Being at AIB helped Alison to expand her view of her art. "I learned to see that ideas for art exist all around me-in movies, books, and even my garden." Her advisors: Deb Todd Wheeler, Judith Barry and Laurel Sparks, all provided the diversity of views that fostered this growth. "Being at AIB and working with visionary artists let me see how I can break the barriers between gardening and painting; now my studio and garden are part of each other."