About Art School 99

Alexandra Rozenman's career has taken her from the Soviet underground to a prominent place among some of America's most revered cultural institutions. Born in Moscow, she found her footing alongside now-famous dissident artists before political pressures brought her to the United States as a refugee in the late 1980s. From that point on, her surrealistic, multilayered paintings have only gained momentum, taking her from an MFA at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts to international exhibitions—including an upcoming exhibit at the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge— an illustrious group of bohemians whose members have included James Baldwin and Michael Chabon.

Having risked everything to follow her own politically conscious muse, Rozenman knows how important self-expression is to every artist. Accordingly, her classes at Art School # 99 arm students with the technical skills and supportive environment they need to bring their vision to life and the authority they need to keep it from running away and playing pranks on the mayor. Programs often reach beyond the canvas to embrace the artist as a whole person: classes might incorporate readings, movies, or collage techniques, and cultivate salon-style inspiration with French-impressionist-appropriate wine or russian tea.