Request Info > Apply > Visit Us >

Department of Art, Consciousness, & Creative Practice

Programs

About us

The Department of Art, Consciousness, & Creative Practice is dedicated to nurturing the deepest values of creative expression. Students discover their own inspiration by accessing the unbounded source of creativity within themselves. Studying within such a supportive environment fosters the students’ continual growth toward their full potential and the realization of that potential in their own art practice. Our art programs integrate practical training in studio art, depth of intellectual understanding, and the progressive development of consciousness. The fine arts are the creative self-expression of consciousness, articulating the awareness of the artist and enlivening the awareness of the audience. While mastering the skills and knowledge of art, our students become well acquainted with the mechanics of creativity, thereby enjoying more effortless, stress-free, and spontaneous creative expression. Our faculty, who exhibit and lecture around the country, have been recognized for excellence in both artmaking and teaching. Our students have been accepted into top-level graduate programs in art including Cranbrook Academy of Art, Yale University, Tyler School of Art, the University of Iowa, and the University of California, Davis. Others have gone on to successful careers as artists, educators, art therapists, arts administrators, designers, animators, and in video production, advertising, and web design.

Traditionally, the arts have celebrated the most glorious possibilities for human life. These ideals are now becoming realities of creative expression and daily life for students at Maharishi International University.

Faculty

jim shrosbree

James Shrosbree, MFA Co-Chair of the Department of Art, Consciousness, & Creative Practice, Professor of Art

jim shrosbree

Jim Shrosbree received an MFA in Ceramics from the University of Montana, Missoula. His work has been exhibited widely and is in the collections of such as the Detroit Institute of Art, Des Moines Art Center, Los Angeles County Museum, Edythe and Ely Broad Museum, University of Iowa Museum of Art and Daum Museum of Contemporary Art. Recent exhibitions include a solo show at Paul Kotula Projects in Detroit (2019). Shrosbree has been a visiting artist at numerous universities and art institutions including Cranbrook Academy of Art, UC Davis, Bard College, Drake University, University of Washington, Penn State University, Alberta College of Art and the University of Iowa.

Awards include fellowship residencies at Yaddo (NY), The MacDowell Art Colony (NH), and Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, (ME). He has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts/Idaho Arts and Humanities Commission, Iowa Arts Council, Pollock-Krasner Foundation as well as a Fellowship from National Endowment for the Arts (Midwest) and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Curriculum Vitae >
sean downey

Sean Downey, MFA Co-Chair of the Department of Art, Consciousness, & Creative Practice, Associate Professor of Art

sean downey

Sean Downey received his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and his MFA from Boston University. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Steven Zevitas Gallery (Boston, MA) and LaMontagne Gallery (Boston, MA), and has been included in recent group exhibitions at Richard Heller Gallery (Santa Monica, CA), Abigail Ogilvy Gallery (Boston, MA), the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA (Portland, ME), the Leroy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University (New York, NY), LaMontagne Gallery (Boston, MA), and Park Place Gallery (Brooklyn, NY). He is a 2013 recipient of the Blanche E. Colman Award, a 2014 recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship, and a 2015 MacDowell Colony Fellow.

Downey is a founding member of the curatorial collaborative kijidome, winner of the 2015 James and Audrey Foster Prize from the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. His work has been profiled in recent editions of Art Maze Magazine, New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, and the I Like Your Work Podcast. Curriculum Vitae >
gyanshrosbree300x300

Gyan Shrosbree, MFAAssociate Professor of Art

gyanshrosbree300x300

Gyan Shrosbree received her B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her M.F.A. from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has had recent solo and two-person exhibitions at Ola Studio, Pound Ridge, NY: nx.ix.0 Contemporary, Detroit, MI; Haus Collective, San Antonio, TX; Grapefruits, Portland, OR; Grand View University, Des Moines, IA; Yellow Door Gallery, Des Moines, IA; Ripon College, Ripon, WI; Lovey Town Space, Madison, WI; and The Iowa Arts Council and State Historical Museum, Des Moines, IA. Her work has been included in recent group exhibitions at Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL; Cleve Carney Art Gallery, Glen Ellyn, IL; Ground Floor Gallery, Nashville, TN; The Woskob Family Gallery, State College, PA; NYSRP, Brooklyn, NY; and Artstart, Rhinelander, WI.

Gyan has been an artist-in-residence at MacDowell, Yaddo, The Vermont Studio Center, Two Coats of Paint, and The Maple Terrace. Recent publications featuring her work include The Coastal Post, Inertia Studio Visits, Precog Magazine, and Maake Magazine. Gyan is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Art, Consciousness, & Creative Practice at MIU. She lives and works in Fairfield, Iowa. Curriculum Vitae >
hilary-nelson-16-14

Hilary Nelson, MFAAssistant Professor of Art

hilary-nelson-16-14

Hilary Nelson has an MFA in Painting and Drawing with a secondary in Sculpture from the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History. She attended MIU for her BFA in Painting as well as her BS in Environmental Science. Hilary is currently Assistant Professor of Art. Curriculum Vitae >

Genevra Daley

Genevra Daley, MFAAssistant Professor of Art

Genevra Daley

Genevra Daley received her MFA, through a Provost Fellowship, from the University of California, Davis. During her time at Davis, she was the recipient of the Robert Arneson Art Award, Mary Lou Osborn Award, as well as the Keister and Allen Art Purchase Prize. Genevra was recently featured in issue 12 of MAAKE magazine and has work in the collection of the Manetti Shrem Museum in California. Genevra also works as a freelance illustrator. Her clients include Pottery Barn Kids, Better Homes and Gardens, and Mackenzie Childs. Genevra is Assistant Professor of Art. Curriculum Vitae >

Susan Metrican

Susan Metrican, MFAAssistant Professor of Art

Susan Metrican

Susan Metrican is an artist living and working in Fairfield, IA via Boston, NYC, Toronto, and Bangkok. Metrican received an MFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2014 and Shandaken: Storm King in 2022. Metrican’s work has been included in solo and group exhibitions nationally.

Most recently, her work has been shown at Framingham State University (MA), Headstone Gallery (NY), The Hole (NY), LaiSun Keane (MA), Rivalry Projects (NY), MassArt X SoWa (MA), Tracey Morgan Gallery (NC), LeRoy Neiman Center for Print Studies at Columbia University (NY), Maharishi University (IA), SPRING/BREAK Art Show 2017 (NY), Able Baker Contemporary (ME), GRIN Contemporary (RI), Proof Gallery (MA), Boston Center for the Arts (MA), Field Projects (NY), Knockdown Center (NY), and Gallery Protocol (FL). Metrican has an artist edition with Drawer NYC (NY), and has been featured in ART MAZE Mag, Cream City Review and Peripheries Journal. She is one of four founding members of kijidome, an experimental project space and collaborative in Boston, MA (2013-2017). From 2014-2022, she was the Curator at the Kniznick Gallery at Brandeis University. She is currently Director of the Wege Gallery and Assistant Professor in the Art Department at Maharishi International University (IA). Curriculum Vitae

Recent Visiting Artists and Guest Speakers

  • Esteban del Valle
  • Kevin McNamee-Tweed
  • Corinne Spencer
  • Graham McDougal
  • Elizabeth Atterbury
  • Sean Nash
  • Lucy Kim
  • Leeza Meksin
  • Jae Won Lee
  • Helen O’Leary
  • Ryan Foerster
  • Yevgeniya Baras
  • Terry Conrad
  • Andrea Heimer
  • Isabel Barbuzza
  • Sangram Majumdar
  • Matt Phillips
  • Joshua Bienko
  • Glenn Goldberg
  • Chris Cran
  • Dylan James Nelson
  • John Dilg
  • Phillip Chen
  • Eleanna Anagnos
  • Leonore Metrick-Chen
  • Jane Gilmor
  • Michael Velliquette
  • Joey Fauerso
  • David Dunlap
  • Brenda Joanne Brown
  • Andrew Casto
  • Yevgeniya Baras
  • Ted Lyddon Hatten
  • Benjamin Gardner
  • Seema Kapur
  • Bert Winther-Tamaki

Recent MFA Artist Mentors

  • Andrea Heimer
  • Gaby Collins Fernades
  • Yevgeniya Baras
  • Susan Chrysler White
  • Robert Hoerlein
  • Glenn Goldberg
  • Joey Fauerso
  • Matt Phillips
  • Michael Velliquette
  • Isabel Barbuzza
  • Kim Faler
  • Nick Tobier
  • Benjamin Gardner
  • Gail Spaien
  • Lisa Cralle
  • Leeza Meksin
  • Alfredo Gisholt
  • Terry Conrad
  • Cullen Washington Jr.
  • Michael Berryhill

Next Steps

request info

Get your questions answered
and download our free booklet.

Request info >
visit us

Sign up for one-on-one virtual visits,
Visitors Weekend, or Visitors Saturday.

Learn more >
apply to mum

Our next entries:
Aug 2024 and Feb 2025

Apply > Apply >
X

Follow MIU