2025/26 Merit Scholarship Recipient: Sofia Vasquez

How/why did you choose your major?

I felt that MCAD’s printmaking program had a lot to offer me as a transfer student. I was seeking a smaller institution that allowed for independent exploration of a medium while also having the ability to receive the support I needed from other students and faculty.

Describe the work you submitted for merits.

For my merits, I decided to include a screenprint poster that discussed my frustration with encampments being repeatedly torn down and destroyed within the Twin Cities. I wanted to create a poster that advocated for our unhoused neighbors and could be wheat-pasted around the city.
For my second work, it was a series titled On The Wall of my own photography of handmade doilies. I used the form of doilies as a frame to represent the domestic and familial relationships I have encountered and the emptiness those bonds have left me with.
My third work Fragmentation also deals with the same themes of On The Wall. It is photogravure and screenprint which was a combination of printmaking methods I enjoyed working with.
My final work was a print installation that remains untitled. I decided to choose self portraiture for this work as I was dealing with a lot of internal change happening within myself. This was also my first time working with dirt and exploring how print can be presented in a space.

Why did you decide to come to MCAD?

It was a pretty clear option for myself as it fit with what I had wanted out of a program and moving back to Minneapolis.

What are your plans for your senior year? And beyond?

I have recently started Treuse Collective with three other artists here in Minneapolis and am very excited to see where this collaboration leads us!