At San José State University, research is at the forefront. Our graduate students have opportunities to participate in cutting-edge research that speaks directly to each student’s passion.
Lucia Znamirowski is a current graduate student studying a Master of Fine Arts in Pictorial Art. She spoke to us about two research projects she has been involved with and how SJSU professors have made a meaningful impact throughout her graduate education.
Lucia was involved in a two-year research project, titled: “The San Jose Story Map Project.” This research project, she tells us, “aims to use the power of stories to reveal San José in a new and different light,” as well as highlight the history and culture of San José. Not only was she able to work with professors Rhonda Holberton and Revathi Krishnaswamy, but in this project she was able to take a role as a Project Manager, an opportunity that allowed her to be the lead, and work more closely with the professors and project.
Lucia calls another research project she was part of particularly insightful, “The Future Farmers exhibition: Bones, Tones, and Phones.” The show was produced as part of a month-long residency at SJSU, which she says, “aims to engage geologists, ceramicists, sound artists, printmakers, and the SJSU marching band, in a series of explorations and actions focused on soil.” The two soils they looked at were: “Corcoran clay from the San Joaquin Valley, which bears evidence of the agricultural history of the Central Valley and the current reality of drought across the state, and a JSC-1A Lunar Soil Simulant, a volcanic ash whose chemical composition closely resembles lunar soil, which proposes the possibility of life beyond earth.” She worked closely with Shaun O’dell on this project as a graduate print assistant.
We asked Lucia why taking part in these research projects was imperative for her graduate studies, and she said, “working closely with artists and assisting on projects has been an invaluable resource to my practice as an Artist.”
Why SJSU?
What excites Lucia the most about her research and her SJSU program is “the professors. Working with professors, such as Rhonda Holberton, has pushed me into a generative environment to create my thesis. The support I received was through working on projects at SJSU and creating curriculum for new classes in the art department.” Because she is a current teacher, her tuition was waived, which is another reason why she chose SJSU.
“The professors at SJSU have allowed me to peek behind the curtain and they’ve continued to mentor me as I begin to transition out of SJSU,” Lucia said. As for her next steps after completing her degree, Lucia said she is open to all possibilities. By participating in research, graduate students are given the opportunity to transform not only their lives, but on a local and global level, too, and Lucia was able to do that.