Shawn Shafner
Shawn Shafner (Social Practice M.A., ‘24) is a multidisciplinary artist passionate about facilitating a more loving relationship with the body, planet, neighbors and global communities. While pursuing his M.A., Shawn led school-wide projects like Acornucopia!, a four-part exhibition series that recognized the diversity of resources around campus. He also facilitated a semester-long fellowship alongside the Accokeek Foundation at Piscataway Park to grow Native ecology and visibility on campus.
In his thesis project, Tied Together, Shawn developed a series of interventions aimed at creating stronger bonds between Corcoran community members, while also acknowledging our interconnected nature and inviting us to rest in the strength of our interdependence. Many spiritual traditions teach that, while we perceive ourselves as separate, we are fundamentally interconnected and inherently Divine. Shawn hoped to embody that idea in Tied Together, and invited us to ask ourselves: What if we rooted our community in that perspective? What if we cultivated lovingkindness not only for those we know and see, but also those who we seldom encounter and may never meet? How might we move through our time at the Corcoran differently when we remember that we are, as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said, “tied in a single garment of destiny?”
You can also read about Shawn’s fall 2023 project, Acornucopia!, in which he explores the Indigenous food source.
