Los Angeles Residency Opens Doors for Artist Sophia Hashemi

When Sophia Hashemi G’26 was researching master of fine arts (M.F.A.) programs, one opportunity at Syracuse University’s School of Art stood out: the Turner Semester residency in Los Angeles. The chance to immerse herself in the rhythm of LA’s art world, intern with a working artist and experience the culture firsthand became the deciding factor in her application to the school’s studio arts program within the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).

“I applied to Syracuse with this residency at the forefront of my decision,” Hashemi reflects, “and it exceeded my expectations.”

Hashemi was named one of three Turner Semester residents for the Spring 2025 semester. She lived and worked in LA under the guidance of residency coordinator Jill Spector who, like Hashemi, is an interdisciplinary artist. Between exhibitions and studio visits, museum tours and artist talks, Hashemi discovered what it meant to sustain a life in the arts beyond studio walls. “It was my first time truly experiencing that ecosystem firsthand,” she notes.

The residency’s centerpiece was her internship with Elliott Hundley, an LA-based collage artist whose work Hashemi had admired for years. “His practice reshaped how I think about collage—not just as assemblage, but as a living, breathing cosmos,” she explains. “When I finally stepped into that cosmos years later, it felt like crossing into a dream I had unknowingly rehearsed for.”

Twice a week, Hashemi worked alongside Hundley and his studio manager, cutting hundreds of tiny scraps by hand, resizing over 800 images, forming clay pins and gluing delicate fragments into place. (The pieces would travel to Regen Projects and the Santa Barbara Museum of Art for his mid-career retrospective.) She also observed curators, critics and gallerists who visited the studio.

The experience opened unexpected doors. After sharing her own work with Hundley, he arranged a private studio visit with Shepard Fairey—another longtime inspiration. The visit led to meaningful conversations and connections, including the potential to assist in Fairey’s studio in the future.

“Being embedded in the community revealed how central relationships and collaboration are to sustaining a life in the arts,” Hashemi says. “For someone who typically spends most of their time working alone in the studio, the residency exposed me to an entirely new way of engaging with the art world.”

Back in Syracuse, Hashemi has made the most of the opportunities afforded to graduate students in the School of Art. She has a private studio space in Comstock Art Facility’s printmaking lab, where she works on her large-scale collage work, and she benefits from the perspectives and suggestions of faculty members who work in such disciplines as printmaking, ceramics and photography. She has also taught three semesters of undergraduate screenprinting, her favorite medium, and worked as a technician in the printmaking lab. She recently had the solo show “Obscura” in the school’s new student-run gallery 044 Comstock.

“As a third-year M.F.A. student preparing for my culminating thesis exhibitions, I approached this show as a kind of mini-thesis preview,” Hashemi explains. “Installing and exhibiting work from the past two-and-a-half years allowed me to see the full scope of my development, and since I typically work at a large scale, it was the first time I experienced a substantial body of work installed together.”

This spring Hashemi will exhibit her work in VPA’s M.F.A. thesis exhibition in Syracuse (opening March 27 at the college’s Warehouse Gallery) and in New York City, also in March. She is considering a return to the West Coast after she graduates in May. “Through my LA residency, I’ve developed meaningful professional connections and am interested in pursuing opportunities there, alongside my interest in teaching at the college level,” she says.

To receive more information about the School of Art’s M.F.A. in studio arts program from the Office of Recruitment and Admissions, please complete our request for information form and select “studio arts M.F.A.” as your program of interest.