> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Meet the Second-Year Grads in UConn’s MFA Studio Art Program
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/meet-second-year-grads-uconns-mfa-studio-art-program/
- Published: 2016-10-11T14:52:21.000Z
- Updated: 2026-03-11T19:07:52.000Z
- Description: Meet the second year grads in the “best kept secret” MFA Studio Art program in the country, UConn’s graduate studio art program.
- Author: University of Connecticut (UConn)
- Tags: Announcement, Art Education, University of Connecticut, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:17 (2016, 2017, part 1)

[![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2016/09/grads2.jpg)](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTg5MSwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTcyOTcwLCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMzQuNC4xMiIsIm53IjoyMDcsInBjIjowLCJlYyI6MCwicHIiOjE2NjYsInJ0IjoxLCJzdCI6MCwiYmYiOnRydWUsInBuIjoiYXprcHJldmlldyIsInVyIjoiaHR0cDovL2FydC51Y29ubi5lZHUvcHJvZ3JhbXMvZ3JhZHVhdGUvIiwicmUiOjF9&s=rjHRzAxcxkPczHW2FLkfw4qYtU0&ref=hyperallergic.com)

Meet the second year grads in the “best kept secret” MFA Studio Art program in the country, [**UConn’s graduate studio art program**](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTg5MSwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTcyOTcwLCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMzQuNC4xMiIsIm53IjoyMDcsInBjIjowLCJlYyI6MCwicHIiOjE2NjYsInJ0IjoxLCJzdCI6MCwiYmYiOnRydWUsInBuIjoiYXprcHJldmlldyIsInVyIjoiaHR0cDovL2FydC51Y29ubi5lZHUvcHJvZ3JhbXMvZ3JhZHVhdGUvIiwicmUiOjF9&s=rjHRzAxcxkPczHW2FLkfw4qYtU0&ref=hyperallergic.com)**.** Working in a broad range of art making, the class features:

[Kaleigh Rusgrove](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTg5NiwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTcyOTc0LCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMjcuMTA4LjIxMyIsIm53IjoyMDcsInBjIjowLCJlYyI6MCwicHIiOjE2NjYsInJ0IjoxLCJzdCI6MCwiYmYiOnRydWUsInBuIjoiYXprcHJldmlldyIsInVyIjoiaHR0cDovL3d3dy5rYWxlaWdocnVzZ3JvdmUuY29tLyIsInJlIjoxfQ&s=pDD7Wr9hABZfcmbraa3R71TiOSk&ref=hyperallergic.com)  
Rusgrove’s exploration in photography is focused on the development of fabricated narratives and the constructed image. Working primarily in the realm of self-portraiture, she is able to act as various fictional characters, while exploring her own personality and history in the process.

[Kelsey Miller](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTg5OCwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTcyOTc2LCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMjYuMzQuMTU3IiwibnciOjIwNywicGMiOjAsImVjIjowLCJwciI6MTY2NiwicnQiOjEsInN0IjowLCJiZiI6dHJ1ZSwicG4iOiJhemtwcmV2aWV3IiwidXIiOiJodHRwOi8va2Vsc2V5bm1pbGxlci5jb20vIiwicmUiOjF9&s=IGT6wgLjADSEY-LEyNzyBF2HGwA&ref=hyperallergic.com)[](http://kelseynmiller.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)Miller worked as chef on a sailboat traveling between the Caribbean, the United States, and Europe. She kept a regular journal of her travels and these notes and sketches fostered her work. The resulting prints are a translation of surface, space, and movement formed from both visual and haptic memories.

[Jelena Prljevic](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTkyNiwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTczMDA2LCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMzQuNC4xMiIsIm53IjoyMDcsInBjIjowLCJlYyI6MCwicHIiOjE2NjYsInJ0IjoxLCJzdCI6MCwiYmYiOnRydWUsInBuIjoiYXprcHJldmlldyIsInVyIjoiaHR0cDovL3d3dy5qZWxlbmFwcmxqZXZpYy5jb20vIiwicmUiOjF9&s=Y3MRmPVo-jtijahz0XOgw-qxPyg&ref=hyperallergic.com)[](http://www.jelenaprljevic.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)In the intersection of drawing, animation and installation Prljevic translates marks and erasures that describe changes in her everyday environment and her experience of transition. Through the process of drawing time and place are intertwined and manifested as and through movement.

[Erin Smith](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTkyNywiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTczMDA3LCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMzQuMjI1LjE0NyIsIm53IjoyMDcsInBjIjowLCJlYyI6MCwicHIiOjE2NjYsInJ0IjoxLCJzdCI6MCwiYmYiOnRydWUsInBuIjoiYXprcHJldmlldyIsInVyIjoiaHR0cDovL3d3dy5lcmlua29jaHNtaXRoLmNvbS8iLCJyZSI6MX0&s=5NUF6s1pLYhOct9kwZz6BFZrlQI&ref=hyperallergic.com)[](http://www.erinkochsmith.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)Smith paints imagined and observed realities that collage stories, current events, and personal experiences into narrative form. Her paintings often start as a response to drawing or a choreographed spatial relationship that allows her to play with themes of human failure, vulnerability and power.

[Claire Stankus](http://engine.nectarads.com/r?e=eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTkyOCwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTczMDA4LCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMzUuOS4xNzAiLCJudyI6MjA3LCJwYyI6MCwiZWMiOjAsInByIjoxNjY2LCJydCI6MSwic3QiOjAsImJmIjp0cnVlLCJwbiI6ImF6a3ByZXZpZXciLCJ1ciI6Imh0dHA6Ly93d3cuY2xhaXJlc3Rhbmt1cy5jb20vIiwicmUiOjF9&s=fo7YyGWLofAVE1ODOMyrt15OpPU&ref=hyperallergic.com)[](http://www.clairestankus.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com)Stankus’s paintings focuses on the interpretation of ordinary scenery depicted using both landscape and figurative imagery. There is a strong draw to isolation, absence, and memory in her work.  

![](http://engine.nectarads.com/p/eyJhdiI6MTAyMDg3LCJhdCI6MjAsImJ0IjowLCJjbSI6NDg0NTk4LCJjaCI6MTkzMCwiY2siOnt9LCJjciI6MTY1OTg5MSwiZG0iOjQsImZjIjoxOTcyOTcwLCJmbCI6MjI4MjM1NCwiaXAiOiI1NC4yMzQuNC4xMiIsIm53IjoyMDcsInBjIjowLCJlYyI6MCwicHIiOjE2NjYsInJ0IjoxLCJzdCI6MCwiYmYiOnRydWUsInBuIjoiYXprcHJldmlldyIsInJlIjoxLCJmcSI6MH0/i.gif?r=985436984568935468935698534698)