Sugunan K / 24 August 2024 /
Warm Welcome to Chawky Frenn, Associate Professor at George Mason University and Fulbright Scholar at Banaras Hindu University, India.
Professor Uttama, Dean of the Faculty of Visual Arts; Dr. Pradosh Mishra, Fulbright Nehru Fellow and Professor of History of Art; Professor Suresh K. Nair, distinguished artist and Professor of Visual Arts; along with the Faculty and students of Visual Arts at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi are delighted to extend a hearty welcome to Professor Chawky Frenn who is joining BHU for his second Fulbright Fellowship in India.
In his first visit to Professor Suresh K. Nair’s third-year drawing class, Professor Chawky Frenn involved the students in a stimulating dialogue as he shared his passion for art and his excitement about the opportunity to work with them. A colleague remarked: “He seemed transformed; he forgot he was sick when he engaged with the students.”
Reflecting on his upcoming term, Professor Chawky Frenn shared:
“As I embark on my second Fulbright at Banaras Hindu University in the fall of 2024, I am honored to collaborate with the faculty and students to create meaningful projects focused on Visual Voices for Peace. I look forward to engaging in teaching and research while connecting with institutions, cultural centers and universities interested in the intersection of art, social justice and peace.”
Professor Frenn added: “For over forty years since leaving my war-torn birthplace in Lebanon, my art has served as a voice for human rights, dignity, social, racial and economic justice. My presentations on the role of Art as a Voice for Peace explore how 20th century artists used their work to address the disasters of wars and to impact their times. These artists lived through historical events such as WWI, WWII, Hiroshima Bombing, Vietnam War, the Mexican Revolution, the Lebanese War, the Iraq War and the ongoing war on terrorism.”
Professor Frenn’s Fulbright Research and Teaching Project at the Department of Painting, Faculty of Visual Arts, aims to foster art as a catalyst for mutual understanding, social justice and peace. His work will involve partnerships with artists, students and colleagues to cultivate new perspectives and enhance global educational and artistic collaborations between India and the United States.
Professor Frenn’s biography
Born in Lebanon, Chawky Frenn emigrated to the United States in 1981. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mass College of Art and Design in Boston, MA in 1985, and Masters of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art of Temple University in Philadelphia, PA in 1988.
Professor Frenn was awarded two Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Awards, which enabled him to pursue his international academic and creative research in New Delhi in 2017 and Varanasi in 2024, India. He has received numerous awards including the Teaching Excellence Award from George Mason University in 2009.
Professor Frenn had many solo, museum and group exhibits in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Paraguay and India. He received critical acclaim from publications including the New York Times, NY ARTS, Art New England, Boston Globe, Connecticut Post, Atlanta Magazine and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the United States, as well as An-Nahar, L’Orient – Le Jour and The Daily Star in Lebanon.
Professor Frenn is the author of two books, 100 Boston Artists and 100 Boston Painters published in 2013 and 2012. His work appeared in 100 Artists of Washington, D.C in 2011, Male Nude Now in 2001 and Encyclopedia of Arab American Artists in 2008. Art for Life’s Sake, a monograph on Frenn’s work was published by Fine Arts Consulting and Publishing in Beirut, Lebanon, in 2006.
