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Stanley & Selma Hollander Artist, Designer, and Scholar Lecture Series to Bring 15 Distinguished Guests to MSU in 2025-2026

Through its annual Selma & Stanley Hollander Artist, Designer, and Scholar Lecture Series, the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Michigan State University hosts several internationally recognized leaders in the fields of art and design, who each offer inspiring talks that explore how visual representation in all its complex forms exists as a mode of inquiry. 

The 2025-2026 Selma & Stanley Hollander Artist, Designer, and Scholar Lecture Series will bring 15 distinguished guests to campus. All the events that are planned as part of this series are free and open to the public.

Black-and-white composite image featuring 15 individual portraits arranged in three rows of five. The individuals vary in gender presentation, hairstyles, and expressions.
The 15 distinguished guests who were selected for the 2025-2026 Selma & Stanley Hollander Artists, Designer, and Scholar Lecture Series include (top row left to right) Jonathan Springer, Rafael Domenech, Eric Benson, Hongtao Zhou, and Lindsey French; (middle row left to right) Alberto Rigau, Rania Totsika, Joanna DeGeneres, Giancarlo Fiorenza, and Lori Waxman; (bottom row left to right) Sam Yates Meier, Achim Timmermann, Isla Hansen, Ekaterina Popova, and Danielle Aubert.

During their visit, the invited guests, who come from all around the world, will present their scholarly and creative research in a public lecture. In addition to the lectures, a variety of activities, such as workshops, class visits, panel discussions, and exhibitions, also are planned to give students and the public opportunities to further engage with the visiting lecturers. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students also have opportunities to participate in individual studio visits and group critiques with guest lecturers. 

The series is named after the late Stanley and Selma Hollander, the primary sponsor for this series, whose generosity and support for the arts and humanities at Michigan State University can be seen across campus and whose legacy provides the Department of Art, Art History, and Design with a sustaining way to continue to invite artists, designers, and scholars from around the world to MSU each year.

This lecture series also is sponsored by the Department of Art, Art History, and Design along with generous support from MSU’s College of Arts & Letters, Office of the Provost, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, Department of English, Department of History, Department of Anthropology, Digital Humanities Program, Department of Theatre, and Beal Botanical Gardens and Arboretum.

The following is the list of 2025-2026 Stanley & Selma Hollander Visiting Artists, Designers, and Scholars:

Fall 2025

Alberto Rigau
Friday, Sept. 12, 12:30 p.m., Virtual Visit 

Black-and-white headshot of a man with short, dark hair and glasses, looking slightly to the left. He wears a dark crew-neck shirt and has a neutral expression.
Alberto Rigau

Alberto Rigau is a designer and educator committed to building creative communities. From participating in AIGA (the Professional Associate for Design) to collaborating with different organizations across Puerto Rico and the United States, he blends culture, research, and storytelling through his design studio, Estudio Interlínea, which is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His work advocates for design that’s thoughtful and human-centered. Rigau has a master’s degree in Graphic Design and dual B.A. degrees in Graphic Design and Anthropology, all from North Carolina State University. More info on his lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar.

Rafael Domenech 
Thursday, Sept. 18, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie  

Black-and-white image of a man with a short beard and closely cropped hair, wearing a dark T-shirt. He looks directly at the camera with a neutral expression; text is partially visible on the wall behind him.
Rafael Domenech

Rafael Domenech, a New York–based artist, merges sculpture, publishing, and architecture, turning exhibitions into active sites of production. He orchestrates objects, texts, and building components to expose the social systems that shape art. He has realized projects at the Bass Museum (Miami), SculptureCenter (New York City), and Passerelle Centre d’Art Contemporain (Brest, France). His work is in the permanent collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), National Gallery of Art, and Pérez Art Museum Miami. He has an MFA from Columbia University, a BFA from New World School of Arts, and a B.A. from Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes – San Alejandro. More info on his lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar.

Eric Benson
Friday, Oct. 10, 12:30 p.m., Virtual Visit 

Black-and-white image of a man with a short beard and wearing glasses and a dark T-shirt. He looks directly at the camera with a smile.
Eric Benson

Eric Benson is an Associate Professor and Chair of Graphic Design & Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has published and lectured internationally on the importance of sustainable design. His work also has garnered numerous design awards and has been seen in notable venues like The Walker Art Center, Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Hammer Museum, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, and the Rhode Island School of Design. He has an MFA in Design from the University of Texas at Austin and a BFA in Graphic and Industrial Design from the University of Michigan. More info on this lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar.

Hongtao Zhou
Tuesday, Oct. 14, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white image of an Asian man wearing glasses and a gray jacket. He looks directly at the camera with a neutral expression.
Hongtao Zhou

Hongtao Zhou is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, and scholar of art, design and the built environment, who has exhibited work nationally and internationally, including at Centre Pompidou, the Venice Biennale, and Milan Triennial. His creative practice intersects art, design, science, technology, and social innovation, generating objects, environments, and imaginations inspired by both pure curiosity and real-world challenges. He holds professorships at the University of Macau and Tongji University and serves as a Director of the Permanent Collection SaloneSatellite. He has a Ph.D. from Purdue University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. More info on his lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar.

Jonathan Springer 
Thursday, Nov. 6, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white close-up of a man with a trimmed beard and short hair, looking to the right with a serious expression. The background is dark.
Jonathan Springer

Jonathan Springer is the Campaign and Digital Creative Director at REI Co-op where he leads teams of art directors, copywriters, and designers to help redefine what it means to be “outdoorsy” through bold and inclusive marketing campaigns. With a background in design and more than 20 years of experience, he’s created award-winning campaigns for USPS, Target, Whole Foods, Moncler, AT&T, and many other global brands. He has a BFA in Design from the Kansas City Art Institute. More info on his lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar.

Rania Totsika 
Thursday, Nov. 13, 6 p.m., (SCENE Metrospace)

Black-and-white photo of a woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing a plain white shirt. She faces the camera with a neutral expression, standing against a smooth, light-colored wall.
Rania Totsika

Rania Totsika is a ceramic artist and founder of Pink Dolphin Ceramic Lab in Athens, Greece. She studied as an architect at the University of Thessaly in Greece and enriched her knowledge in design and ceramics at the Design Academy of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, earning a master’s degree in Social Design. With a background in architecture, she creates porcelain and stoneware pieces that blend structural design with material exploration. Her work bridges art, design, and architecture through both precise techniques and tactile, expressive forms. More info on her lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar.

Lori Waxman
Tuesday, Nov, 18, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white portrait of a woman with short, curly hair, smiling softly. She is wearing a patterned top and standing against a bright, overexposed background.
Lori Waxman

Lori Waxman has been the primary art critic of the “Chicago Tribune” since 2009 and a monthly columnist for “Hyperallergic.” She teaches in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and occasionally performs as the “60 wrd/min art critic.” She is the recipient of a Warhol Foundation Arts Writers Grant, a 2018 Rabkin Foundation Award, and the Jean Goldman Book Prize. She has a Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, an M.A. from SAIC, and a B.A. from McGill University in Montreal. More info on her lecture can be found on the College of Arts & Letters events calendar. 

Achim Timmermann
Monday, Nov. 20, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white photo of a man with a beard, wearing a patterned shirt and a light-colored fedora. He stands in front of a brick and stone wall with arms crossed, looking at the camera.
Achim Timmermann

Achim Timmermann is a Professor in the Department of History of Art at the University of Michigan and specializes in medieval and Renaissance art and architecture with a focus on the visual culture of the eucharist, the nexus between art and pilgrimage, the architectural and pictorial stage-management of civic rituals, and the impact of the Stations of the Cross on the urban landscapes. He has a Ph.D. in History of Art and an M.A. in European Literary and Historical Studies, both from the University of London. Timmermann will serve as the Keynote Speaker for the Undergraduate Art History Symposium at MSU. 

SPRING 2026 

Isla Hansen
Thursday, Jan. 29, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white photo of a woman with straight shoulder-length hair, wearing a light button-down shirt. She has a neutral expression and is photographed in an indoor setting.
Isla Hansen

Isla Hansen is an artist making systems and objects for play, performance, sculpture, interactive installation, animation, and video. Her work explores cultures surrounding play, personal technologies, labor, work, children’s media, fantasy, and the relationship between bodies and technological progress. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University where she teaches sculpture. She also serves as Co-Director of Programming for the Folly Tree Arboretum, a cultural archive of trees dedicated to ecological storytelling that works to promote an environmental ethic through art and science. Hansen has an MFA from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.A. from Columbia University.

Sam Yates Meier 
Friday, Feb. 6, 11:30 a.m., Virtual Visit

Black-and-white image of a woman with a shoulder length hair and round, bold glasses. She wears a dark shirt and looks directly into the camera with a calm expression, with an indoor setting softly blurred behind her.
Sam Yates Meier

Sam Yates Meier is an award-winning designer and illustrator. She teaches in the Visual Communications Department at the University of Kansas where she also serves as the Design Program Director. She also is a senior designer at Hallmark Cards. Her experience spans from in-house media for Kansas City PBS, experiential design and wayfinding with Dimensional Innovations, to brand experience and identity with the Beveridge Seay firm in Washington, D.C. She is Co-Vice President of ICON (The Illustration Conference) and President Emeritus of the Kansas City Chapter of AIGA (the Professional Association for Design). She also is a graduate student at the University of Kansas, studying Black Art and Design.

Lindsey French 
Tuesday, Feb, 10, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white photo of a woman with short hair wearing a black turtleneck. She is looking slightly to the left, standing outdoors with snowy trees and open sky in the background.
Lindsey French

Lindsey French is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and writer whose work focuses on sensory engagements within multispecies commons. She has shared her work nationally including at the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), Pratt Manhattan Gallery (New York City), and Miller Gallery for Contemporary Art (Pittsburgh). French currently serves as Libra Assistant Professor of Art at the University of Maine. She has a B.A. from Hampshire College and an MFA in Art and Technology Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Giancarlo Fiorenza 
Tuesday, March 10, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white portrait of a smiling man wearing glasses and a striped button-down shirt. He stands outdoors with blurred trees in the background.
Giancarlo Fiorenza

Giancarlo Fiorenza is an art historian of the early modern period and a Professor of Art History in the Department of Art and Design at California Polytechnic University. From his book on Dosso Dossi’s intriguing oeuvre to his recent work on Marcantonio Raimondi, his focus has been on the significance and topicality of mythological and alchemical subjects to the Renaissance minds. He has a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University and has worked in both museum and academic fields, holding curatorial positions at the Toledo Museum of Art and the Georgia Museum of Art.

Joanna DeGeneres 
Thursday, March 26, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white image of a woman with chin-length dark hair and bangs, smiling gently. She is wearing a soft, knit sweater and leaning forward with her hands near her face.
Joanna DeGeneres

Joanna DeGeneres graduated from Michigan State University in 1997 with a BFA in Art and Education. After earning an MFA in Acting from the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program in 2002, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting and began shooting headshots. She also had worked as an assistant in a casting office where she had to look through thousands of headshots. In 2007, she quit everything else to focus on her thriving photography business. Since then, her photos have been featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, People Magazine, The New York Times, Deadline Hollywood, book author covers, TV shows, podcasts, Broadway programs, and many other online and printed publications. DeGeneres’ visit to MSU is also sponsored by MSU’s Department of Theatre. 

Ekaterina Popova 
Thursday, April 9, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white image of a smiling woman with long, wavy hair. She is wearing a sheer, light-colored top and layered necklaces, seated in a brightly lit room with artwork in the background.
Ekaterina Popova

Ekaterina Popova is a Russian-born artist whose contemporary oil paintings explore themes of home, belonging, and identity. Her work has been exhibited internationally and across the United States. Based in Philadelphia, Popova is the founder of “Create! Magazine” and co-authored “The Complete Smartist Guide” and “The Creative Business Handbook.” She empowers artists through her books, podcast, online courses, and coaching programs and is passionate about helping creatives build sustainable careers through education, publishing, and mentorship. Popova has a BFA from Kutztown University.

Danielle Aubert 
Tuesday, April 14, 6 p.m., Room 107 South Kedzie

Black-and-white photo of a woman with short hair, wearing a casual V-neck T-shirt. She is smiling and facing the camera against a plain background.
Danielle Aubert

Danielle Aubert is a graphic designer whose work examines materials, methods of production, machines, and labor. She is the author of The Detroit Printing Co-op: The Politics of the Joy of Printing, Marking the Dispossessed and 16 Months Worth of Drawings in Microsoft Excel. She is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design in the Department of Art and Art History at Wayne State University in Detroit. She has an MFA in Graphic Design from Yale University and a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Virginia.

By Kim Popiolek

Categories: Lecture Series / News