Notes from the Class of 2018

Valeria Serrano
MA, Art History
Website / Social Media: @serranva

I'm from Medellín, Colombia, and studied under Dr. James Córdova for my MA thesis. I focus on contemporary Latin American art, and have been working at art galleries and museums throughout my professional career.

Melissa Scalfani
MFA, Sculpture & Post-Studio Practice
Website / Email / @melisssclafani

Melissa Sclafani is an Assistant Professor & Gallery Director in the Department of Art & Design at Fort Lewis College. She joined the college in 2020. She received her BFA in sculpture from SUNY New Paltz in 2009 and her MFA in Sculpture and Post-Studio Practices from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2018. Ms. Sclafani’s work manifests in sculpture, installation, and performance often integrating all three together. She uses her background in traditional sculpture techniques, journalism, and gender studies to generate a relationship between labor intensive process, interaction, and social constructions. She is interested in creating work that sparks conversation, getting herself and the viewer to think more, talk more, work together, and hopefully, do more.

Ms. Sclafani has managed arts residencies and non-profit arts organizations since 2010. She has participated in residencies and exhibitions across the country including Wayfarers in Brooklyn, NY; Franconia Sculpture Park in Franconia, MN; Salem Art Works in Salem, NY; The Contemporary Artist Center in Troy, NY; and Elsewhere Studios in Paonia, CO. She is currently getting ready for a residency at MoMAZoZo in Carrizozo, NM and a two person exhibition spanning both the Vision Gallery and the Chandler Museum in Chandler AZ next spring.