Painting MFA

A painter with interest in critical theory and modernism, Susan King received her MFA from USC. A professor of both art studio and art history, she also earned an MA in Art History at UC, Riverside and a PhD in Visual Studies at UC, Irvine. Her art historical thesis focused on the reception of German modernism in England, and her dissertation centered on surrealism in the late 1930s. In addition to presenting papers at College Art Association (CAA) annual conferences, she contributed a review to CAA Reviews on the Getty’s J.M.W. Turner exhibition and catalogue.

Her other publications include a book review on European interwar avant-gardes and two book chapters—one on the painter Max Liebermann and another on the Women’s Caucus for Art’s legacy of honoring women in the visual arts. Susan leads the thesis writing seminars and is the thesis advisor in LCAD’s Drawing/Painting MFA program. She’s equally at home in artist studios, galleries, museums, libraries, and archives and is thrilled to share in the rich dialogue among LCAD’s MFA and liberal arts faculty and students.

Mason Williams (b. 1995) is a passionate landscape painter and teacher from Carmel, California. A haven for plein air painting, Williams’ birthplace became instrumental in his journey as an artist. He received his BA in Studio Art from Principia College in 2017, but it wasn’t until after he attended a summer artist residency at Otis College of Art and Design in 2018 that his artistic path came full circle. Inspired and motivated to grow his technical skill, Williams took a job back home as studio manager at Carmel Visual Arts. During this time, he began apprenticeships with renowned Carmel artists Jesse Powell and John Burton. It was under their tutelage that Williams discovered his love for the landscape and plein air painting. In 2022, Williams graduated from the Laguna College of Art and Design with his Master of Fine Arts Degree in Painting. He was also featured in the Southwest Art Magazine’s article 21 Under 31, Young Artists to Collect Now, and he has exhibited work at the Laguna Art Museum, the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, the California Art Club, and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Williams’ paintings are represented by two galleries in California, Vanessa Rothe Fine Art Gallery in Laguna Beach, and Skidmore Contemporary in Santa Monica.

Recently, Williams won the Landscape Award of Excellence for his painting in the Oil Painters of America Western Regional exhibition in Texas. Williams is also an adjunct professor for the Laguna College of Art and Design.

Leslie Fram is an advocate for emerging artists in LA, collecting their works for 20+ years and curating exhibitions celebrating their art. Leslie founded the Emerging Artist Program for Venice Family Clinic’s Art Walk, and later launched The MFAs of LA at Good Mother Gallery in downtown LA, an annual survey showcasing works by the city’s best graduate art school talent. She has served as a judge at The Other Art Fair, an artists-run art fair taking place at the Santa Monica Barker Hangar.

Leslie holds a BA in Art History from Barnard College, an MBA in Marketing from Columbia University as well as a Certificate of Art from The Parsons School, all in NYC. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2005, she has been a donor to local museums and their associated councils including LACMA, MOCA, LAXART, and the Hammer Museum, where she was a founding member of their Kids’ Art Museum Project (KAMP), working as a liaison with emerging artists.

Beyond her passion for art, Leslie’s wide array of interests are displayed throughout her career history, having been: a Trends Editor at national magazines including New York; a business development media executive for The Hearst Corp.’s interactive division; a self-help author published by HarperCollins; a women’s clothing designer for Sphynx, Ltd., a company she co-founded; a waste-to-energy management consultant; and a ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet.

Brittney Leeanne Williams (b. 1990, Pasadena, CA) is a Los Angeles-based artist. She studied at the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts as well as the Art Institute of Chicago.

Williams was the inaugural artist for the Hilma af Klint Center Artist-in-Residence program in Adelsö, Sweden. She has had solo exhibitions at Alexander Berggruen, New York, NY; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA; Newchild, Antwerp, Belgium; Carl Kostyál, Stora Sundby, Sweden; The Hole, New York, NY; and Monique Meloche, Chicago, IL; among others. She has been included in group exhibitions at the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, LA; The Shephard Street Library Collective, Detroit, MI; Rachel Uffner, New York, NY; Lehmann Maupin, London, UK; Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC; and The Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA; among others. Her work is in the public collections of Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA; Domus Collection, New York, NY and Beijing, CN; Fundacion Medianoche0, Granada, ES; Harvey B. Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC; MacArthur Foundation, Chicago, IL; and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; among others.