Theodore Randall International Chair

The Randall Chair was established in 2007 to honor the legacy of artist and educator Theodore Randall, remembered as the architect of the School of Art and Design at Alfred and as a significant artist and organizer in the field.

Ted Randall's signature/mark on the bottom of a ceramic piece of art

The Randall Chair is open to established, international artists living outside the United States as non-US citizens who, by virtue of their stature as experienced artists, will bring diverse cultural insight.

Selva Aparicio (Fall ‘23)

Selva Aparicio, International Randall Chair in Sculpture in Alfred University’s School of Art and Design, has been named winner of the 2023 Burke Prize, given by the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) in New York City.

Established in 2018, the Burke Prize is a biennial award honoring excellence in contemporary craft and is named for craft collectors Marian and Russell Burke. It awards an unrestricted $50,000 to an artist aged 45 or under working in the United States, whose highly accomplished work is conceptually rigorous, relevant, and pushes the boundaries of materials and creative process.

Museum of Arts and Design press release on 2023 Burke Prize

Aparicio’s work, Absence Remains, will be the focus of a special installation at the Museum on view from November 6, 2023–March 24, 2024. Crafted from a reclaimed cemetery teddy bear and collected dandelion fluff, Absence Remains is part of a series that gives viewers the opportunity to consider death and human life and the heavy emotions that are often bound with the taboo nature of these topics.

Van Maltese (Spring ‘23)

Multidisciplinary in breadth, Vanessa Maltese's (she/they - b. 1988, Toronto, Canada) practice deploys various forms of trickery and illusion to pose questions about perception. Maltese is interested in the plasticity of the brain, and how conflicts of perception have the power to change our methods of thinking, even in common everyday experiences. Maltese received a BFA from OCAD University in 2010. In 2012, Maltese was the National Winner of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition and in 2018 they attended the Glenfiddich Artist in Residence Program. Maltese has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions across North America, most recently at COOPER COLE, Toronto (2021); Mickey Gallery, Chicago (2020); Corbett vs Dempsey, Chicago (2019); Night Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); The Power Plant, Toronto (2018); the National Gallery Library and Archives, Ottawa (2017); Carl Louie, London ON (2017); Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York (2016); Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, New York (2016); Art Museum of the University of Toronto, Toronto (2016); and Erin Stump Projects, Toronto (2012). Maltese currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Ziyang Wu (Fall ‘22)

Ziyang Wu is an artist based in Hangzhou and New York, currently teaching at the School of Design and Innovation at China Academy of Art, and is a current member of NEW INC at the New Museum. With an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and a BFA from the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, his video, AR, AI simulation and interactive video installation have exhibited internationally, including the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Philadelphia, Rhizome at the New Museum in New York, Walker Art Center and Rochester Art Center in Minnesota, SXSW in Texas, Art Dubai, Annka Kultys Gallery in London, Eigenheim Gallery in Berlin, Medici Palace in Florence, Milan Design Week, Today Art Museum in Beijing, Chengdu Biennale, Song Art Museum in Beijing and Ming Contemporary Art Museum in Shanghai. His recent fellowships and residencies include “Kai Wu” Interdisciplinary Studio residency, Media Art Lab, Times Museum; AACYF Top 30 under 30; Residency Unlimited; MacDowell Fellowship; Artist-in-residence at Institute for Electronic Arts (IEA) at Alfred University; Winner of The ROCI Road to Peace by Robert Rauschenberg Art Foundation. His work has been reviewed and featured by Artnet, Brooklyn Rail, It’s Nice That, Vogue Singapore, Hypebeast, ArtForum China, Wall Street International, New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), BIE, Neural Magazine, Vie Des Arts Magazine, ANTE Magazine, Frontrunner Magazine, LEAP Magazine, Coeval Magazine, Stir World Magazine and more.

Liet Heringa and Maarten Van Kalsbeek (Spring ‘22)

heringa and van kalsbeek in front of a large wall covered in artistic graffiti

The International Randall Chairs for the Division of Ceramic Art in the Spring Semester 2022 will be Liet Heringa and Maarten Van Kalsbeek, an artist duo from the Netherlands.

For more than 25 years, since their student days at the Rietveld Académie, they have regularly collaborated as Heringa/Van Kalsbeek on myriad projects in the Netherlands and internationally. Look over their website and CV to see the wide range of materials, methods, and projects they have engaged.

Liet and Maarten will be teaching Junior “Ceramic Sculpture II” within a thematic structure they provocatively titled “Frontstage/Backstage.”

Division Chair Walter McConnell states "I’ve had the pleasure of working with Liet and Maarten at a Korean Biennial in 2004. I can tell you from firsthand experience that they are hardworking prolific artists, fine and generous people with a wealth of knowledge to share and good fun to be around."