Panel presentations by alumni working in architectural studies will take place from 2-4pm. Networking Reception with wine and cheese to follow in the Rotherwas Room. All are welcome.
Shane Neufeld '04 is an American architect, painter and writer living and working in Brooklyn, New York. He received his B.A. in Fine Arts in 2004 from Amherst College, where he studied painting and literature, and his Masters degree in 2009 from the Yale School of Architecture. Neufeld’s work is cross-disciplinary. Over the past four years, he has designed and completed projects that attempt to redefine traditional architectural boundaries, seeking to hybridize narrative and construction with the hope that simple materials can be transformed entirely if the architectural concept is strong enough. He continues to produce art in addition to pursuing a career as an architect. However, he does not view these multiple outputs as separate, but rather as combined—seamlessly integrated into a total work of art. Shane’s projects have been exhibited at Jeff Bailey Gallery in New York City and Alpha Gallery in Boston, among others. His work has been published in The New York Times, Harper’s, CLOG, Lotus and a number of online publications including ArchDaily and SuckerPUNCH. He has completed several built projects that include an Urban Farm in Manhattan’s Battery Park, RAMPed Up, a USGBC National Competition Winner for an affordable house in New Orleans, and Vintry Fine Wines in New York City. He spent three years after graduate school working for Rogers Marvel Architects, where he participated in a number of projects and competitions spanning from urbanism, residential, and commercial, to institutional architecture. He currently runs his own practice, Shane Bernhard Neufeld Architects, and teaches at New Jersey School of Technology as an adjunct professor in the School of Architecture.
Sarah O’Keefe Greig ’02 works in architectural preservation and education in New York City. She majored in Fine Arts and graduated magna cum laude in 2002. While at Amherst, she took many architecture classes, including survey courses, Making Memorials, and a seminar on Frank Lloyd Wright. She studied abroad on an arts program in Paris, where her course work included photography, painting, Impressionism, and Medieval Architecture. Upon graduation, Sarah worked at a high school in northern California for two years, and then worked as a curatorial intern at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. Wanting to merge her love of arts and education, Sarah moved back East to attend graduate school at Tufts University, where she earned her M.A. in Art History in 2007 and a certificate in Museum Studies with a concentration in Museum Education. While at Tufts, she worked as an art history teaching assistant, head of the Gallery Guide program at the Tufts Art Gallery, and intern in the education department at the MFA. The recipient of an Amherst Memorial Fellowship during her graduate studies, Sarah’s graduate work focused on the intersection of photography, painting, and architecture in late 19th century in Paris, Boston, and New York, specifically drawing connections between architectural photography and the beginning of the historic preservation movement in Boston. After receiving her M.A., Sarah moved to New York to intern in the photography department at MoMA, and performed independent exhibition research on architectural photographer Ezra Stoller. She was then hired at FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, a small non-profit dedicated to historic preservation, where she has worked since 2007 filling several roles: Preservation Associate, Interim Executive Director, and Education Director. Her work has included marketing, grant writing, curriculum development, board and membership management, fundraising, and event planning. She has testified at the Landmarks Preservation Commission to advocate for appropriate changes to landmarked buildings in six historic districts, fought against inappropriate change and development, and successfully campaigned to expand the boundaries of the Upper East Side Historic District in 2010. Her main focus has been as Education Director, where she revamped Young Friends youth architectural education programs, which now reach over 1,000 first to fifth graders each year in public and private schools on the Upper East Side and East Harlem. The multi-visit programs teach students to “read” a building as they learn about building materials, architectural elements, and building use; students also learn a detailed history of their school neighborhood and local historic districts through maps and historic photographs. Sarah loves being in the classroom and out in the neighborhood opening students’ eyes to their built environment. The programs include classroom sessions, neighborhood walking tours, and architectural art projects. Sarah has added new offerings on Landmarks and Preservation, as well as Yorkville Immigration, which finds evidence of the rich immigrant history in the built environment. She has created a successful partnership with the Museum of the City of New York, secured program funding from NYC Council Members and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and released two new architectural publications to accompany the youth programs. Sarah is currently working on new program offerings and also runs a photography business.
Tim Ripper '09 is currently an M.F.A. student in graphic design at the Yale School of Art. He majored in physics at Amherst (his thesis on the phenomenon of precursor waves was published in the American Journal of Physics) while continuing to pursue longtime interests in fine art and foreign languages in his remaining courses. He also frequently contributed illustrations and cartoons for campus publications. After graduation, Tim took advantage of his Amherst-acquired Chinese language skills and lack of long-term career plans by moving to China for two years. There he taught English, worked in educational publishing, and played bass in a rock band before ultimately feeling an urge to go back to school. After researching various graduate programs, he narrowed down his search to graphic design as a way to combine his varied interests in a single field. In 2012, he began a three-year graphic design program for a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale, which provides an extra year of foundation courses for students without undergraduate backgrounds in graphic design. He has loved the experience so far, and is particularly delighted to be working in a field at the inter-section point of so many different disciplines.