Each year, special guests are invited to address graduates on each campus. Past speakers include Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem; Lord Harry Dalmeny, Chairman of Sotheby's UK; and Dominique Levy, art dealer and co-founder of Lévy Gorvy.
We’re thrilled to be able to announce our MA 2022 Commencement speakers, two standout art professionals with a wealth of knowledge and achievements between them.
Speaking at our graduation ceremony in London on May 20, we have with us the exceptional British art critic, lecturer, and outgoing Director of Whitechapel Art Gallery, Iwona Blazwick OBE.
In 2009, Iwona oversaw a £13m capital project that combined Whitechapel Art Gallery’s original 1901 building with the former library next door, doubling the gallery's footprint. She also discovered Damien Hirst and staged his first public solo show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1992 and was the founding Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Modern, where she created the idea of the Turbine Hall commissions.
In New York City on June 3, we are honored to have contemporary art advisor, Kim Heirston speaking at our commencement ceremony. As founder of Kim Heirston Art Advisory LLC, Kim has twenty years’ experience working with clients worldwide to develop post-war and contemporary art collections for private residences, corporate headquarters, hotels, and foundations.
During Kim’s early years, she placed works by acclaimed artists Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, and Damien Hirst, along with curating spaces on film sets for the renowned Sex in the City. Kim continues to advise a broad base of international clients from diverse places such as Jeddah, Warsaw, and Mumbai.