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Smolny Beyond Borders Hosts Conversation with Sasha Skochilenko ’17

Sasha Skochilenko ’17, artist, musician, and former political prisoner, talks about her experience studying anthropology at Smolny College of Saint Petersburg State University and how her liberal arts education strengthened her antiwar position, which was reflected in her courtroom speech “Oh yes, life!” on the value of life and reconciliation amidst war and conflict, and helped her to survive her imprisonment. The conversation, held on April 7 at Bard College Berlin, was moderated by Ilya Kalinin, Skochilenko’s former professor and supervisor at Smolny College, currently a Smolny Beyond Borders fellow and Einstein fellow at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Skochilenko, who was born in Leningrad, openly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was subsequently detained by riot police and later arrested in 2022 for spreading pacifist leaflets under the accusation of “spreading knowingly false information about Russian Armed Forces.” During her imprisonment, she started an “Imprisoned for Peace” performance and participated in exhibitions of prison art. Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony. On August 1, 2024, Skochilenko was released in Ankara as part of a complex international prisoner exchange, having spent more than two years in prison. She currently lives in Germany.

Beyond her activism, she published the educational comic A Book About Depression (2014), which quickly became a Russian internet sensation and helped to destigmatize mental health issues in Russia. She also founded the antihierarchical musical collective “Free Random Jam.” Skochilenko will receive Bard’s Laszlo Z. Bito Award for Humanitarian Service in 2025 for her activism and bravery in the face of repression, imprisonment, and adversity.

Further reading:
“Case Study on Sasha Skochilenko: Anti-War Russian Political Prisoner,” prepared by Bard Human Rights major (and former student at Smolny College) Sofia Semenova

Bard and Smolny College Graduate Released from Russia in Historic Prisoner Swap

Post Date: 04-15-2025

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Two Bard College Faculty Members Named 2025 Guggenheim Fellows

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has awarded 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships to Bard College Assistant Professor of Photography Lucas Blalock ’02 and Bard College Visiting Artist in Residence Gwen Laster. Chosen through a rigorous application and peer review process from a pool of nearly 3,500 applicants, Blalock, who teaches in the Photography Program, and Laster, who teaches in the Music Program, were tapped based on both prior career achievement and exceptional promise. Bard MFA alum Jordan Strafer ’20 was also named Guggenheim Fellow for 2025. As established in 1925 by founder Senator Simon Guggenheim, each fellow receives a monetary stipend to pursue independent work at the highest level under “the freest possible conditions.” Blalock, Laster, and Strafer are among 198 distinguished individuals working across 53 disciplines appointed to the 100th class of Guggenheim Fellows.

“At a time when intellectual life is under attack, the Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists,” said Edward Hirsch, award-winning poet and president of the Guggenheim Foundation. “We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.”

In all, 53 scholarly disciplines and artistic fields, 83 academic institutions, 32 US states and the District of Columbia, and two Canadian provinces are represented in the 2025 class, who range in age from 32 to 79. More than a third of the 100th class of fellows do not hold a full-time affiliation with a college or university. Many fellows’ projects directly respond to timely themes and issues such as climate change, Indigenous studies, identity, democracy and politics, incarceration, and the evolving purpose of community. Since its founding in 1925, the Guggenheim Foundation has awarded over $400 million in fellowships to more than 19,000 fellows. The 100th class of Fellows is part of the Guggenheim Foundation’s yearlong celebration marking a century of transformative impact on American intellectual and cultural life.

Lucas Blalock is a Brooklyn-based photographer whose work is in the collections of the Dallas Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Hammer Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Portland Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others. Recent solo exhibitions include Florida, 1989, at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, New York; Insoluble Pancakes, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels; and An Enormous Oar, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; recent group exhibitions include venues in Oslo, Miami, Moscow, Berlin, Beirut, Minneapolis, and New York, where his work was selected for the Whitney Biennial 2019. He and his art have been profiled in publications including Arforum, the New York Times, New Yorker, Art in America, Brooklyn Rail, BOMB Magazine, W Magazine, British Journal of Photography, and Time. He has published essays and interviews as author in the journal Objectiv, IMA Magazine, BOMB, Foam, and Mousse, among others. He previously taught at the School of Visual Arts; Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University; Sarah Lawrence College; and the MFA Program at Ithaca College. He also served as visiting lecturer on visual and environmental studies at Harvard University. He received his BA from Bard College and MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Gwen Laster is a nationally acclaimed musician who has been the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Jubilation Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Arts Mid Hudson, Lila Wallace, and the Cognac Hennessey 1st place Jazz Search. A native Detroiter, her creative influences come from the Motor City’s exciting urban and classical music culture. Laster started improvising and composing because of her parents’ love of jazz, blues, soul, and classical music, and her inspiring music teachers from Detroit’s public schools. Laster relocated to New York City after earning two music degrees from the University of Michigan. Laster is many things: A virtuoso violinist with exquisite taste. An adventurous composer, arranger and orchestrator. A classically-trained artist with a deep appreciation for America's musical history, and a scholar of African-American musical heritage. A socially conscious activist and educator who understands the power of music to reach and touch everyday people.

Post Date: 04-15-2025