Firelei Báez
Artist Firelei Báez graduated from Hunter College with an MFA in 2011. Widely exhibited and collected, her paintings, drawings, and installations draw upon diasporic histories, casting them into an imaginative realm and re-working visual references drawn from the past to explore new possibilities for the future. Báez was born in 1981 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic, to a Dominican mother and a father of Haitian descent.
Alexia Arthurs
The celebrated author and Hunter College alumna Alexia Arthurs arrived in Brooklyn from Jamaica at age 12 as an undocumented immigrant. Now a rising literary voice known for her captivating storytelling and exploration of identity, belonging, and the complexities of human relationships, Arthurs has said it was her Hunter College education more than anything else that helped her achieve that dream.
Victoria Cheah
A graduate of the Macaulay Honors College at Hunter, Victoria Cheah is an accomplished composer who has created her own unique works of contemporary music for audiences all over the world.
Phil Klay
Accomplished author and U.S. Marine Corps veteran Phil Klay has made a significant impact on the literary world. Klay earned his bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth, where he was mentored by acclaimed poet—and Hunter College faculty member—Tom Sleigh. After serving as a United States Marine Corps officer during the Iraq War, Klay pursued his passion for writing and enrolled in the Creative Writing MFA program at Hunter College, with encouragement from Sleigh.
Ryan Ponder McNamara
Brooklyn-based artist Ryan McNamara is both a member of the Hunter College faculty and a graduate of the MFA program. He works in a multitude of media and methods including performance, installation, photography, drawing, and sculpture.
Leonardo Freire
Leonardo Freire is a Brazilian-born and New York City-based international touring musician, music director, and educator. As a drummer he has toured around the world for multi-platinum selling artists, and played some of the industry’s most famous and largest stages.