Farahnaz Tafreshi

PhD Candidate in Visual Arts: Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory - Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) - Portland, ME

(2025-09)

Art Studio Faculty & Residency Program Coordinator - OCAD University, Florence Off-Campus Studies Program - Florence, Italy

(2012-09 - 2025-12)

• Conducted upper-level studio courses and post-degree certificate seminars focused on independent artistic practice within a European cultural context.
• Delivered lecture series tracing Italian art history from the medieval period through Mannerism, focusing on fresco techniques, panel painting, sculpture, and architectural context.
• Led scholarly, site-directed field study visits across major historical locations throughout Italy to ground formal visual analysis and iconographic interpretation in physical artifacts.
• Evaluated studio work by connecting historical principles to contemporary execution, requiring students to integrate traditional methods of anatomical study, compositional structure, and pictorial space into individual practice.
• Mentored advanced undergraduates through independent studio proposals, thesis execution, and the professional realization of graduation-level bodies of work.
• Directed formal individual and group critiques across all program levels, emphasizing critical vocabulary and iconographic reading.
• Managed operational logistics for the international residency program across academic terms, overseeing studio scheduling, visiting artist itineraries, site-specific projects, and public exhibition programming.

Fine Arts Instructor & Studio Coordinator - Creative Image World - Toronto, Canada

(2013-09 - 2025-12)

• Taught figure drawing and artistic anatomy from direct observation of the live model, addressing gesture, proportion, skeletal structure, and muscular form.
• Instructed students in traditional and contemporary painting media, covering paint handling, historic color formulation, and material application.
• Delivered technical training in planographic and stencil printmaking, including stone lithography, tusche drawing, photo-emulsion exposure, and multi-layer color registration.
• Conducted studio coursework in intaglio, relief, and dimensional methods, covering press operation, plate preparation, armature construction, and clay modeling.
• Structured introductory ceramic labs covering hand-building, wheel-throwing, and kiln firing.
• Designed syllabi, learning outcomes, assessment rubrics, and progress tracking systems aligned with academic studio standards.
• Managed facility operations, hazardous materials safety protocols, inventory control, press maintenance, and scheduling.
• Supervised junior instructors on syllabus structure and critique standards while guiding graduating students through portfolio preparation and higher education admissions.

Design and Illustration Specialist - Ministry of Education, ON, Canada - Ontario, Canada

(2019-03 - 2020-12)

• Commissioned to design and illustrate nine primary school textbooks for the Ministry of Education, Iran.

PhD - Visual Arts: Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Art Theory - Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts (IDSVA) (2025-09)

Master of Fine Arts / Master's Degree - Visual Studio & Art History - OCAD University (2011-09 - 2012-05)

Master's Degree - Interdisciplinary Art and Science - Niagara University (2016-09 - 2018-05)

Postgraduate Certificate - Psychology (Human Development Core) - George Brown College (2020-09 - 2021-09)

Post-Bachelor's Certificate - Fine Art (Studio Drawing & Painting) - OCAD University (2009-05 - 2011-05)

Bachelor of Fine Arts - General Art (Drawing & Painting) - Azad University (1990-09 - 1994-09)

Diploma - Silk Screen & Lithography - The Academy of Art (1992-09 - 1994-09)

Diploma - Écorché Sculpture & Artistic Anatomy - The Academy of Art (1990-09 - 1992-09)