On Tuesday, September 2, 2025, the 2nd-year MFA cohort visited the Kunstverein Leverkusen to visit the show of Alfred in Düsseldorf painting faculty, Katrin Laade. The show is titled “IN DER WELT”; translated to English “IN THE WORLD”. Katrin is an abstract painter, born in Germany, and studied at the world-famous Kunstakademie Düsseldorf and de ateliers in the Netherlands. Katrin keeps her studio in Düsseldorf and works as a dedicated abstract artist. As students, we have the pleasure to join Katrin for various travel opportunities, as she enlightens us to the heart and soul of various European art cities.

📸 Wendelin Bottländer

On Tuesday, April 15, the 1st year Alfred MFA painting cohort visited the grounds of Museum Insel Hombroich in Neuss, Germany. The Museum Insel Hombroich is both a park and a museum on over 62 acres of meadowland, combining architecture, art, and nature. From 1982 to 1994, sculptor Erwin Heerich created eleven exhibition pavilions. The various pavilions present both antique art from Asia and modern art, most of which are lit by natural light. The Langen Foundation is on the grounds, where we viewed an exhibition of contemporary art from the Ringier Collection.

📸 Max Heaton

From Monday, March 31 to Friday, April 4, the 1st year Alfred MFA painting cohort visited the amazing city of Paris, France! What an incredible city and rich arts culture – our stay was filled with one amazing experience after the next. Highlights included: Notre-Dame Cathedral of Paris, Chapel Sainte-Chapelle, Musée d’Orsay, Louvre Museum, Musée de l’Orangerie, and all the local galleries! 

We walked along the Seine, enjoyed French food at the cafes, watched the sun go down at Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre, and saw legendary installations and artworks by Parisian greats Monet, Manet, and Rodin. Pictured below are The Water Lillies and The Gates of Hell.

The entire group was in awe of the city and were lucky to be there!

📸 Max Heaton

On Wednesday, March 26, the 1st year MFA cohort visited the Kunstverein Leverkusen and Schloss Morsbroich Museum. Many German cities and towns have their own Kunstverein or local art club. Members pay a small annual fee to be a part of the Kunstverein, and have access to art shows and discounted art releases. We were received at the Kunstverein by curator Susanne Wedewer Pampus – we were shown the current exhibition by the art duo Michelle Héon and Gilles Morissette.

After enjoying the current exhibition, we went on a nature walk through the grounds, enjoying the birds, flowers, and outdoor sculptures. After the nature walk, we entered the Museum Morsbroich to view the exhibition of photographer and video artist Eric Lanz. A unique aspect of the Museum Morsbroich is that they keep their collection openly accessible. The public can view the collection and request works be pulled out and put on view!

📸 Max Heaton

On Wednesday, March 12, the 1st year Alfred MFA painting cohort visited the studio of Düsseldorf artist, Cornelius Quabeck. The next day, Thursday, March 13, Cornelius visited the Oberbilk studio of the Alfred painters, and we each had individual critiques with the visiting artist. Cornelius is a painter, printmaker, and musician. On dedicating oneself to a subject matter, Cornelius states, “Spend time with a subject or object, and new things get revealed.” Cornelius is currently working on a series of skulls. He states, “The skull is not arbitrary, it is about death” and “to work with the skull repeatedly is a way for me to process the concept of death.” As a greater philosophy of art making, Cornelius states, “learn from the experience of art making – to be more confident with what you do as you make the art.”

The next week, on Tuesday, March 18, the 1st year Alfred MFA painting cohort visited the studio of Düsseldorf artist, Paul Schwer. The next day, Wednesday, March 14, Paul visited the Alfred painters, and we each had individual critiques with the visiting artist. Paul is a painter and a sculptor, well-known for his morphed plexiglass works. 

Cornelius and Paul shared their own unique experience and path through the arts. Our exchange with these artists provided different and valuable feedback as we develop our work, fostering our voice.

📸 Max Heaton

On Tuesday, March 3, 2025, The 1st-year MFA cohort had a group critique at their Düsseldorf studios in Oberbilk. Alongside professors Jutta Haeckel and Stefan Kürten, the students talked about their work, ideas, and future visions. The following day, March 4, 2025, we had our midterm, which included input from German professor Katrin Laade and the Alfred MFA painting staff; including director Stephanie McMahon, Patrick Brennan, and John Chae. The past two days were an intensive dive into our work – we had many minds focused on our art, and many ideas were generated – it is up to us as artists to take what we want from these sessions; to hear the critiques, think about our art and what we want to carry forward.

📸 Max Heaton

On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the Alfred MFA cohort traveled to Brussels, Belgium by train to explore the city’s rich cultural history in the arts. After settling into our lodging, we head straight to the Oldmasters Museum. Here we were treated to works by Belgian artists Peter Paul Rubens, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and others of the region, like Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch.

After taking in the wonders of the Belgian and Dutch masters, we strolled the streets to check out the local gallery scene. We checked out shows of contemporary artists at Galerie Templon, Rodolphe Jannsen, and La Patinoire Royale. 

The next day, Wednesday, February 26, 2025, we visited the René Magritte Museum and were greeted for a private tour. The experience with our guide provided a personal touch, and insight into the man and work – giving us students a richer experience. We finished our day at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts, another Brussels museum. At the Bozar, we were treated to an incredible group show titled When We See Us – “A kaleidoscopic exhibition that explores a century of Pan-African figurative painting. Themes such as joy, exuberance, daily life, sensuality and spirituality come to the fore in over 140 paintings by a hundred artists.”

📸 Katrin Laade, Max Heaton

On Wednesday, February 12, 2025, the Alfred MFA painting cohort visited the beautiful Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf to attend the artist talk of Ethiopian visual artist Elias Sime, accompanied by his artistic partner, Meskerem Assegued. The talk was in English and translated in real-time by Meskerem, using Elias’ native tongue. The artist talk was held in conjunction with Elias Sime’s opening at the Kunstpalast; a large-scale exhibition called “Echo”, his first solo exhibition in a German-speaking country. The show includes the development of his work from the early 2000s to the present day.

About Elias Sime’s work: Sime assembles large-format reliefs from everyday objects and discarded electronic components such as wires, keyboard keys, and motherboards. The artist collects the material for this in his home city of Addis Ababa, at one of Africa’s largest open-air markets.

The talk gave insight into Sime’s process and artistic philosophies … 

Sime states “Some of us know our passion early, some of us late, I was born an artist!”

On materiality: “I am going to use all types of things to create art.” Undoubtedly, the artist’s materials have evolved and changed throughout the years. Elias states, “Whatever I did then is right, whatever I am doing now is right.”

Sime attended art school at Addis Ababa University Alle School of Fine Arts in Ethiopia …

On attending art school: “I went through the discipline of the art school, and I don’t believe that is enough” … “There is a lot to learn from life, there is a lot to learn outside of the academic.”

Sime makes work on a monumental scale, his pieces range up to thirty meters. His works take shape on the ground, often built through numbered panels that eventually get put together and hung on the wall. The artist will not know what the work will look like until it has been assembled on exhibition walls. Those in attendance were surprised to learn that Sime begins his vision work on a miniature scale. These large-scale works start as a small sketch on paper, perhaps 3” x 3”. From the encouragement of his artistic partner and translator, Sime pulled one of these sketches from his pocket, to exhibit to the crowd in attendance.

Sime works with assistants to produce his work …

On working with a team, he states: “My assistants are not artists, this is true. Working with assistants is about giving and sharing, and sometimes they show me things that I have not seen. When we share ideas, I believe that the sharing is what creates the work.”

Sime provided much spiritual and philosophical insight throughout the talk. Some memorable quotes include: 

On advice to artists, Sime says: “Find your bliss and follow it” … “Eat the fruit when it is ripe.”

On his dedication as an artist: “If you love, you can sacrifice everything. I used to spend many hours in my studio – most of my time was spent there.”

On his appreciation for nature and life: “Part of being human is to know that you are the tree. You need connections to survive; it is your oxygen. It’s about coexistence.”

📸 Max Heaton