2025 - 2027 Board Elections
April 2 - 11, 2025
Meet the Candidates
Position: President
Jaime Carrejo (he/him)
Associate Professor, Chair of Foundations + Fine Arts
Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design
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Biography
Jaime Carrejo is a multi-discipline artist and his projects involve painting, sculpture, and immersive installations using layered materials, intricate patterns, graphic landscapes, and iconography related to physical barriers. Carrejo considers the layering of materials and imagery pivotal in exploring the collision of lived experiences and alterity, which complicate our understanding of place.
He received his B.F.A from the University of Texas El Paso in 2001 and M.F.A. from the University of South Florida in 2007. His work is featured in periodicals, such as The New York Times, Art Forum, and Hyperallergic. Selected exhibitions include ‘Waiting’ at the the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (2021), ‘Pa’lante,’ a flag project at The Momentary in Bentonville, Arkansas (2021), and ‘If Once We Ever Where,’ at Black Cube in Denver, Colorado (2019). He is also a grant recipient of the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art’s Octopus Initiative. Carrejo strives to support his community through civic engagement and serves on the Denver Public Art Committee and is the current President of FATE.
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Statement of Experience
It is with enthusiasm that I am running for my second term as President of FATE. During my time on the board, I've led our organization through significant transformation while expanding opportunities for members. Key accomplishments include supporting the organizing of our 20th Biennial "NEXT/NOW" Conference with George Mason University and the FATE Board. Collectively, we reimagined the awards program to include: the Distinguished Educator, Emerging Educator, Belonging and Community, and Travel Awards. Additionally, in collaboration with the board, we restructured the bylaws of our organization to expand leadership positions, and made plans to establish a member-based conference planning committee for the 2027 conference. Looking to a second term, I plan to complete organizational restructuring, expand community initiatives in our reimagined conference model, and enhance professional development opportunities. With your support, I'll continue building a more inclusive FATE that meets the evolving needs of foundation educators.
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Position: Vice President of Finance
Kevin Kao (he/they)
Associate Professor of Art
Furman University
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Biography
Kevin Kao is an artist and educator whose work explores collective identity through figure, reflection, and multiplicity. He holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego, and an M.F.A. in Ceramics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His work has been exhibited internationally in organizations like The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA; Atlanta Contemporary in Atlanta, GA; and the Kranzberg Arts Center in St. Louis, MO. Kao currently serves as Associate Professor of Art at Furman University in Greenville, SC, where he teaches sculpture and ceramics. In addition to his teaching and artistic practice, he is a current board member of Foundations in Art: Theory and Education (FATE), as well as a Co-Director for Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville, an artist-run gallery space in Greenville, SC.
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Statement of Experience
I am excited to run for the role of Vice President of Finance for FATE, and believe that my background in and outside of the organization make me well-suited for the position. As a current board member in the position of Board Representative for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), I have gained a deep understanding of the organization, our members, and the functions of the board. I recognize the challenges that FATE faces as we navigate change, and am prepared to serve through a balanced and collaborative approach.
In addition to my work with FATE, I am an administrative Co-Director for Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville, an artist-run gallery space comprised of 23 members. In this leadership role, I have developed valuable skills in financial management, including budgeting, forecasting, and grant writing. I am detail-oriented, organized, and adept at executing plans in a manner that respects the interests of many stakeholders. I am confident that these skills will enable me to thrive in the position.
As Vice President of Finance, I aim to ensure financial stability and sustainability by prioritizing transparency, collaboration, and access – essential values that reflect our mission. I am committed to supporting FATE’s long-term success and look forward to making meaningful contributions to our growth and impact.
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Position: Vice President of Communications
Gigi Polo (she/her)
Part-time Assistant Professor
The New School University
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Biography
Gigi Polo is a Dominican artist, designer, filmmaker, researcher, and educator; her interdisciplinary practice combines art and design, pedagogy, and research. Gigi has been an independent contractor for almost 20 years in graphic design, marketing, illustration/photography, film, and research. Although a designer by trade, her career has been shaped by the life challenges she has overcome as a brown immigrant woman living in the United States. In 2018, Gigi completed her book "Second Language through Design[ing]"(https://portfolio.newschool.edu/eslguidebook/), which provides a DEI framework—and teaching strategies—through a language-justice lens to cater to BIPOC communities in mainstream classrooms. In 2019, she started pilot-testing Sprint-to-Pacing, an evidence-based research on intensive learning formats. As a filmmaker, Gigi directed, produced, and edited Madly Gifted (madlygifted.com)—a documentary that explores the relationship between bipolar disorder and artistic temperament. In 2021, Madly Gifted was included in the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) psychiatry clerkship rotation syllabi as a learning tool for medical students in training. The abovementioned projects coalesced into her current PhD research on multisensorial learning spaces, which blend multimodal curriculum, space design, and emergent technologies to explore sustainable and inclusive learning spaces where neurodivergents and neurotypicals share an equitable, mutualistic relationship. Gigi is a Part-Time Assistant Teaching Professor at Parsons, The New School for Design, and the Principal at Gigi Polo Lab.
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Statement of Experience
As an independent contractor for almost 20 years in graphic design, marketing, illustration/photography, film, and research, I believe my creative industry experience will support FATE initiatives. From 2021 to 2023, I had the opportunity to serve as Design Director at Dauphin Americas, a German furniture manufacturer, where I managed the Design Services and Marketing departments. In this role, I leveraged my design expertise and research capacities to support outfacing communications in various platforms, including website, social media, marketing materials, and tradeshow designs. I also helped develop CEU workshops, client outreach initiatives, and partnerships that contributed to industry discussions on sustainability and workplace well-being. In addition to my professional practice, I have engaged with the academic and design communities as a reviewer for thesis dissertations, conferences—including DEL, Design Principles and Practices, and REDO—and journals such as Plot(s) and The International Journal of Visual Design. My research has been published in several journals—such as Spark: UAL, ICDPCA, Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Design Studies, Paris College of Arts— and presented in a multitude of conferences like the American Psychiatry Association, DeL, FATE, Sense&Sensibility, Next School/Atmosphere, MozFest, eNABLE, amongst others. I hope to contribute to FATE's mission through my interdisciplinary practice and experiences.
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Position: Vice President of Regional Events
Millian Giang Pham (she/her)
Assistant Professor
Auburn University
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Biography
After trampling in the muddy rice fields of rural Vietnam then learning to read product labels in supermarket aisles in the United States, Millian Pham received her BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. She further disappointed her family and the Tulsa Vietnamese Catholic community by doubling-down on her passion with an MFA in sculpture from the University of Florida. Pham uses her art practice to dismantle social and cultural expectations through the mediums of painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance, and installation. Her current visual investigation balances the reading of images with the visual experience of texts. To combat negative perceptions through language and break cycles of generational curses, Pham uses formal and pictorial devices in her works to create phenomenological effects of perceptual switching as metaphors for code-switching. Her visual research has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Canada, Pakistan, Korea, and across the United States. Pham was an artist-in-resident for the I-Park Artist Enclave, the Hambidge Art Center, ACRE, Santa Fe Art Institute, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. She currently serves as the Art Editor of Broadsided Press, Board Member of Strata Gallery, and the FATE VP of Regional Programming. She is currently the Studio Art Foundations Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Art at Auburn University in Alabama, where she shares a home studio with her four cats.
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Statement of Experience
In my first two years as VP of Regional Programming for FATE, I organized two virtual events centered around professional development for current and prospective members. After serving my first term on the board and working to redefine regional programming, I learned that one term is not enough to realize my goals for regional events and overall programming. I’m running for a second term with the vision to grow the virtual program and additional efforts to enhance off-conference year programming. In addition to FATE, I currently serve on the board for Strata Gallery and Broadsided Press. It would be an honor to serve a second term as FATE VP of Regional Programming.​​​
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Position: Vice President of Regional Events
Millian Giang Pham (she/her)
Assistant Professor
Auburn University
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Biography
After trampling in the muddy rice fields of rural Vietnam then learning to read product labels in supermarket aisles in the United States, Millian Pham received her BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. She further disappointed her family and the Tulsa Vietnamese Catholic community by doubling-down on her passion with an MFA in sculpture from the University of Florida. Pham uses her art practice to dismantle social and cultural expectations through the mediums of painting, printmaking, sculpture, performance, and installation. Her current visual investigation balances the reading of images with the visual experience of texts. To combat negative perceptions through language and break cycles of generational curses, Pham uses formal and pictorial devices in her works to create phenomenological effects of perceptual switching as metaphors for code-switching. Her visual research has been exhibited nationally and internationally in Canada, Pakistan, Korea, and across the United States. Pham was an artist-in-resident for the I-Park Artist Enclave, the Hambidge Art Center, ACRE, Santa Fe Art Institute, and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts. She currently serves as the Art Editor of Broadsided Press, Board Member of Strata Gallery, and the FATE VP of Regional Programming. She is currently the Studio Art Foundations Coordinator and Assistant Professor of Art at Auburn University in Alabama, where she shares a home studio with her four cats.
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Statement of Experience
In my first two years as VP of Regional Programming for FATE, I organized two virtual events centered around professional development for current and prospective members. After serving my first term on the board and working to redefine regional programming, I learned that one term is not enough to realize my goals for regional events and overall programming. I’m running for a second term with the vision to grow the virtual program and additional efforts to enhance off-conference year programming. In addition to FATE, I currently serve on the board for Strata Gallery and Broadsided Press. It would be an honor to serve a second term as FATE VP of Regional Programming.​​​
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Position: Social Media Coordinator
Jessica Mongeon (she/her)
Associate Professor of Art & Foundations Coordinator
Arkansas Tech University
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Biography
Jessica Mongeon is a visual artist whose acrylic paintings investigate systems of nature and human biology. She was born in Rolette, North Dakota and currently lives in Russellville, AR. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Montana State University, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Dakota. Artist residencies that she has attended include Vermont Studio Center, the Anderson Center at Tower View, and the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation. Jessica has shown her artwork nationally and internationally, including group exhibitions at The Painting Center in New York, NY, the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts at the University of Alabama, and 203 Art Gallery, Shanghai, China. She works as an Associate Professor of Art and Foundations Coordinator at Arkansas Tech University.
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Statement of Experience
I am running for my second term of Social Media Coordinator for FATE. I have been involved in FATE since 2013, when I presented at my first conference as a graduate student. NEXT/NOW will be my fifth Biennial Fate Conference. I have a second undergraduate degree in Public relations, which gave me the skills and knowledge to be an effective communicator. I am also one of Instagram admins for the ATU Department of Art. I believe that my contributions during the past two years as social media coordinator for the FATE Instagram and Facebook pages are proof of my qualifications for this position. I believe in the mission of FATE and would like to continue to contribute to the FATE Board as Social Media Coordinator.​​​
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Position: DEIA Representative
Jjenna Hupp Andrews (she/they)
Professor of Studio Art
Mott Community College
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Biography
Professor of Studio Art at Mott Community College in Flint Michigan for 9yrs, teaching Sculpture, Studio Art Foundations, & Art History. My BFA in metalsmithing/3D, art history minor, and MFA in Sculpture are from Central Michigan University. My Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies, concentration Humanities and Society, focused on contemporary art, visual/media culture, and critical visual literacy is from Union Institute & University.
With 25 years of teaching in higher education as a Lecturer II at the University of Michigan - Flint, an adjunct faculty at Delta College, and periodically at Saginaw Valley State University, I have taught a variety of studio art, art history, art appreciation, and art writing courses.
As a mixed media installation artist, I work with fibers and found materials. SOCIAL EFFICACY and ENGAGEMENT are always the foundation of my work through the use of figural forms to explore EMPATHY. My work focuses on contemporary social, cultural, environmental, and political issues. My current work explores the current inattention to issues affecting our world, specifically who are the INVISIBLE that walk among us, ignored, passed by, unacknowledged, marginalized, and misunderstood. Art can EXPOSE, ENGAGE, and open up SPACES for understanding of diversity, difference, equity, accessibility, and social justice. Facilitating student LEARNING, critical THINKING, PLAY, CREATIVITY, & ENGAGEMENT with the world around them is always foundational for me as an educator.
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Statement of Experience
As a member of the FATE DEIA committee, I am excited by the possibilities I see for advocacy & belonging. Most important to me is listening to what people need, advocating and/or supporting when needed. No one is voiceless; the so-called “voiceless” need to be supported & their voices amplified, not talked over. I believe actions speak louder than words. As a white woman I am obligated to use my privilege in support of those without. I also am situated within several marginalized groups: I am neurodiverse. I have chronic health conditions/disabilities, & experience with disability/accessibility in education settings. I am Queer. All coursework in my PhD program incorporated the core values of creativity, diversity, social justice. PhD seminars & research were through a DEIA lens.
COMMITTEES
FATE DEIA
MCC DEI Council- Officer-Teaching & Learning
MCC International Curriculum Sub-committee
MCC International Institute Advisory Board
MCC Inclusive Spaces Task Force
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS-WORKSHOPS-COURSES
Neurodiversity 101
Engaging International/Immigrant Students through Collaborative Interdisciplinary Storytelling
Aesthetic Lens: Engaging Sociopolitical Injustice Through Art
Beyond Mere Compliance to Inclusion
Creating Inclusive Classroom
Creating Gender Affirming Campus
Inclusive Language in Remote Learning Environment
Exploring Diversity-Gen Ed Course
SELECTED PD
AAC&U-Diversity Equity & Student Success
MCC DEI Micro-Credential
Safe Space Training
Human Rights & Cultural Diversity Curriculum Development​​​
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Position: CAA Representative
Meredith Starr (she/her)
Associate Professor, Assistant Chair of Art and Humanities
SUNY Suffolk County Community College
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Biography
Meredith Starr is an interdisciplinary artist living in NY who creates interactive moments in her installations using AR and VR. She earned her BS from NYU, and her MFA from LIU. She has three apps published to the App Store for iOS devices- Plastic Swim, You Are Here VR and Balancing Act AR. Her work has been published in Suboart Magazine, Art Seen: Curator’s Salon, and CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women. She has shown nationally and internationally, notably in Oslo, Seoul, Tokyo, and New York. She recently had a solo show featuring work from her project One Wild and Precious Life at Biggin Gallery at Auburn University. She has exhibited selections from Every Second Feels Like Theft at Montgomery College, and work from Are You There? in London’s Great Portland Metro Station and in a satellite exhibit of the Venice Biennale at the Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello. She has completed residencies at Zero Foot Hills, Playa Summer Lake and Two Cents Press in Serrazzano, Italy. Starr is also a full time professor of visual arts at SUNY Suffolk County Community College. She collaborates with poet Sarah Kain Gutowski, and her former art school roommate, photographer Dayna Leavitt. When she’s not in the studio you can find her on a run, pausing to photograph a sculptural arrangement of trash at the curb.
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Statement of Experience
I am excited to be applying for the role of CAA representative. I have completed two terms as VP of Membership (2021- 2023, 2023-2025) and I have enjoyed working with the Board to help FATE grow as a community and organization. As part of my role I’ve worked hard to maintain accurate records and collaborate with the other Board members, including updating the by-laws and helping to plan the 2023 and 2025 Biennial Conferences. I have been an active member of FATE for over nine years, including chairing and presenting on panels at FATE conferences. I also hosted two FATE regional events- Fall Semester Boot Camp and Screen Grab. My very first introduction to FATE was in 2016 when I presented on the FATE panel at CAA in Washington DC. I have attended CAA every year since and always make a point to be present at the FATE panel. This year, I was co-chair of the CAA panel Next/Now in NY and developed a strong understanding of the role and its importance to FATE. I currently teach Foundation classes at SUNY Suffolk Community College in NY, including Drawing, 2D, 3D and Painting and I see my classroom as a lab where students can play and experiment. I would love to continue to serve FATE on the Board as the CAA representative to bring meaningful content and discussions surrounding current issues in Foundations to future FATE panels.
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Position: SECAC Representative
Neill Prewitt (he/him)
Senior Lecturer and Foundations Coordinator
Georgia State University
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Biography
Neill Prewitt works in video, sound and music, performance, and installation. He has performed rock operas and participatory sound art events at sites nationally including Whitespace in Atlanta GA, Amos Eno Gallery in Brooklyn NY, South River Arts in Atlanta GA, Kings in Raleigh NC, the OBX Art Truck in Elizabeth City NC, and Silent Barn in Brooklyn NY. Neill has produced videos and installations that have been exhibited nationally at Lump in Raleigh NC, Goodall Gallery at Columbia College, the University of Notre Dame AAHD Gallery, 621 Gallery in Tallahassee FL, and Freedman Gallery at Albright College. His band Neill Weyman released an album in 2022. With the collective Yuxtapongo, Neill has produced art for public spaces including a public access TV show that ran for four years, and installations that have been shown at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and CAM in Raleigh NC. Neill earned an MFA from University North Carolina Chapel Hill and is currently Senior Lecturer and Foundations Coordinator at Georgia State University in Atlanta, GA.
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Statement of Experience
Neill’s ability to serve as SECAC Representative is attested to by his experience in collaboration and leadership as Foundations Coordinator at Georgia State University since 2019. GSU is a large R1 university with a predominantly underserved student population and a Foundations program of over 1200 students per year. Neill consistently implements contemporary practices and fosters critical conversations that benefit both students and faculty in the Foundations program. Neill maintains active conversations with full-time faculty to ensure Foundations prepares students for majors; sets standards, writes curriculum, and conducts assessment; recruits and mentors part-time faculty; plans and assigns courses with the Associate Director; and oversees the Foundation budget, supply purchasing, and facilities. Neill’s program initiatives have included a project taught simultaneously in all 2D Design sections in which 120+ students collaborate to create a large hand-printed mural which they install as public art; and a new Digital Foundations classroom, course, curriculum, and faculty. Neill helped establish a curriculum-sharing practice with colleagues at Perimeter College, the GSU affiliated two-year college, and co-presented a paper with his Perimeter colleague Lisa Alembik at the 2023 FATE conference. Understanding the vital role of graduate students in foundation instruction, Neill has taken a leadership position in nurturing the next generation of educators, teaching Pedagogy and mentoring graduate instructors at GSU. His panel "The Graduate," accepted for the 2025 FATE conference, brings together graduate student teachers with faculty to discuss how Foundations programs can support emerging educators.
Since 2019, Neill has been an active FATE member, presenting papers and chairing panels at each biannual conference. Neill was elected to the 2023 - 2025 FATE Board as FATE SECAC Representative and in that role has created and chaired panels at the past two SECAC conferences that address crucial issues in Foundations education with a broader audience. During the 2024 SECAC conference in Atlanta he served on the SECAC Board and Steering Committee and organized the panel "Post-Pandemic Placemaking in Foundations Programs" which brought together Foundations Coordinators from across the Southeast to share new holistic approaches to student support. This inspired the panel for the upcoming 2025 SECAC Conference, “Foundations Programs and the First Year Experience,” which will discuss the added value of an art and design FYE, beyond the traditional studio project. Neill is active in Foundations internationally. At the 2024 International Network of Foundation Educators (INFE) symposium, hosted by the Royal College of the Arts London and co-organized by The University of the Arts Helsinki, Neill led the workshop "Dérive and Game Theory," which sparked an international dérive collaboration in Spring 2025, bringing together Foundations students at Georgia State University, University of Lincoln (England), and University of South Florida.
As 2025 - 2027 SECAC Representative, Neill would look forward to continuing to deepen meaningful relationships between FATE and SECAC that support faculty across higher education in the Arts. He is eager to help bring together programs with multiple campuses, to support graduate student teachers, to foster dialogue between faculty and administration, and to develop new ways of supporting students post pandemic. Neill has deep gratitude for the FATE community and would be honored to serve a second term as SECAC Representative.
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