NHIA

Distinguished Photographer Arno Rafael Minkkinen to Give Commencement Address

04/27/2011
 

MANCHESTER, NH - Arno Rafael Minkkinen, a photographer well known for his black and white abstract pieces which juxtapose bodies and landscapes in surprising ways, will be the 2011 commencement speaker for the New Hampshire Institute of Art.

Commencement ceremonies will be held on Sunday May 22 at the Palace Theatre, 80 Hanover Street in downtown Manchester.  Doors open at 1:15 pm for students and their families and the ceremony begins at 2 pm.


"Arno is a unique and skilled artist and educator who has demonstrated over his career that an artist can be successful while following his or her passion.  This passion is very visible in his works and I am sure will also be clearly expressed in his remarks to our graduating students," said Institute President Roger Williams.


Minkkinen is currently a Professor of Art at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell.  He has previously worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies and as a lecturer and instructor of photography at MIT, the Institute of Industrial Design in Helsinki, and the Philadelphia College of Art.

             

 

 

Arno Rafel Minkkinen
Photo by Bill Larson

 

 

1973 Narraganset, RI
photo by Arno Rafel Minkkinen

             

His message to student may be partially drawn from his philosophy of photography -taking professional risks and facing challenges are ways to advance one's learning.
On his website, he talks about his photography as follows:  "Many of my photographs are difficult to make. Some can even be dangerous. I do not want to have someone else coming in harm's way taking the risks I need to take: to lean out off a cliff or stay underwater for the sake of my picture. We control how much pain we can tolerate; such information is unknowable by anyone else. Some of my pictures might look simple, but in reality they can test the limits of what a human body is capable of or willing to risk. Thus I title them self-portraits, so the viewer knows who is in the picture and who took it."

Minkkinen is the recipient of numerous awards including, two Polaroid Studio Grants in 1984 and 1987, a New England Foundation for the Arts Fellowship/National Endowment for the Arts Regional Grant in 1991 and Rittari, First Class Lion of Knighthood bestowed by the Finnish Republic on the Sesquecentennial of Finnish Photography in 1992. Minkkinen's work is included in over 55 major museum/institutional collections including the Helsinki Museum of Photography  and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Born in Helsinki, Finland in 1945, Minkkinen emigrated to the United States in 1951. He earned his BA in English at Wagner College.  He studied photography at the New School for Social Research under George Tice, at the School of Visual Arts under Ralph Hattersley, and at the Rhode Island School of Design, under Aaron Siskind and Harry Callahan where he received an MFA in photography.

             

 

 

Fosters Pond Millennium
photo by Arno Rafel Minkkinen

Commencement at the New Hampshire Institute of Art is a weekend celebration that includes the Annual Student Exhibition Preview Party from 6-9 pm on Saturday, May 21 that features works by the 2011 Bachelor of Fine Arts graduating class. Also on exhibit will be works by underclassmen displayed in studios and hallways throughout the campus. Each area of concentration offered at the Institute will be represented in the exhibition.  The opening reception for the exhibit will be held at 3 pm on May 22, immediately following commencement. 

About the NH Institute of Art: The Institute was established as the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1898. From the Institute's outset, it has had a firm commitment to educating diverse traditional and nontraditional students in the fine arts. As an art college accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the Institute offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Certificate Programs and a strong Continuing Education program. Dedicated faculty promote intellectual and artistic development and teach students to respond artistically to contemporary social, political, and aesthetic issues.

 

 

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