At Parsons, our faculty of leading artists, designers, and scholars lead change both in the classroom and in their industries. They work directly with you, building your skills and professional networks. And they develop new ways to make online learning productive and classroom communities close. On our Faculty Stories page, you can explore faculty accomplishments and projects with students.


Parsons School of Design is delighted to present Latency, a culminating Thesis Show of the 2026 Photography MFA program cohort.The exhibition will begin August 14th and go until September 17th in the Galleries at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center. The opening reception will be held on August 20th from 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm.Through the interdisciplinary practices of the 25 individuals, Latency embodies the lag between materialisation and idea. For them, Latency means creating a space in which a brief pause or a visual lag is turned to tangible realities. The exhibition brings together a cohort that isn’t just taking photos, but actively redefining what photography can be.The show captures the tension of something on the verge of appearing, stretching the boundaries of contemporary art. From video to sculpture, silkscreen to image transfers, materials ranging from glass to metal, the work explores the moments where a message finally comes to view.The exhibition features thesis work by: Suga, Francis Chiang, Nazli Erbes, Andrew Finch, Kaitlyn Garcia, Sarah Gray, Lexi Hide, Jai Jain, Aylin Koç, Madison Lanier, Eugene Lee, He Li, Kyla Liang, Ivo Nagel, Stephen Peng, Tania Quintanilla, Valentina Rangel, Maelle Rudner-Mercier, Bai Song, Leana Spain, Jerry Tang, Sophia Valentino, Yu Wang, Hang Yu, and Miraal Zafar.

We are pleased to welcome Ilaria Resta, Chief Executive Officer of Audemars Piguet, to speak with our students. With nearly three decades of global leadership experience across some of the world's most respected luxury brands, Ilaria has built a career defined by innovation, purpose-driven leadership, and a commitment to empowering people. Since becoming CEO of Audemars Piguet, she has led the Manufacture with a vision that honors its rich heritage while shaping its future through creativity, craftsmanship, and sustainable growth. Guided by the principles of Love, Learn, and Legacy, Ilaria believes leadership is about serving others, fostering curiosity, and creating lasting impact. During her conversation with our students, she will share insights from her leadership journey, discuss the evolving landscape of the luxury industry, and reflect on what it takes to build meaningful careers rooted in purpose, innovation, and excellence.

MFA FASHION DESIGN AND SOCIETYGEN 15SHOWROOMMFA Fashion Design and Society Studios39 West 13th Street, Level 3New York, NY 10011Showroom HoursSaturday, September 12 — 10:00 AM–5:00 PMSunday, September 13 — 10:00 AM–2:00 PM The showroom offers an opportunity to experience the collections at a different pace, see the work in greater detail, and engage more closely with the breadth of practices emerging from this year’s graduating cohort, within the environment in which it was conceived and created.Organized by Matthew LindeThe showroom is open to the public and no appointment is necessary. Press and industry guests are very welcome to visit at any time during these hours.The venue is wheelchair accessible, with elevator access to the MFA Fashion Design and Society studios on Level 3.

AtMaFounded by Makoto Suzuki and Ayumi Koyama, AtMa is a creative studio that moves fluidly across disciplines.Their practice unfolds through three interwoven strands: the design of spaces for clients—from retail environments to restaurants—together with installations, window displays, and products; self-initiated projects that question contemporary social issues; and the operation of COM, a space for presenting their own works and dialogues with artists, where ideas circulate and evolve.Drifting between these modes of practice, AtMa cultivates a multifaceted gaze and a material-driven approach, allowing new forms of expression to emerge. Their practice seeks not only to shape spaces but to reveal the relationships, tensions, narratives, and possibilities embedded within them.For Milan Design Week 2025, AtMa presented J39.5, a project they have been developing over time, at Villa Borsani—one of the venues of ALCOVA Milan. The work has drawn significant attention from international media and has been recognized with awards, further expanding the context in which this ongoing inquiry is received.Melanie CourbetFounded in 2013, New York-based design gallery Les Ateliers Courbet has established a distinct program dedicated to promoting and supporting the meticulous work and ethos of rarefied master craftsmen around the world.

Maia Cruz Palileo creates paintings, works on paper, installations, and sculptures that honor familial archives and imagined contemporary realities. Beginning from a space of personal inquiry around their family’s migration from the Philippines to America, Palileo quickly uncovered connective points between individual histories and broader global systems, like colonization, displacement, assimilation. The artist’s research into overlapping historical timelines, paired with effects of memory, provides a framework for their color-rich compositions. This overlapping is made physical through the layering of oil paint, which—even in instances where one layer is concealed by another—permanently maintains its material presence on the canvas, creating its own recorded history.Part of the Fine Arts Visiting Artist Lecture Series
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