Born in Rochester, New York, Sanjit Sethi received a BFA in 1994 from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, an MFA in 1998 from the University of Georgia, and an MS in advanced visual studies in 2002 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sanjit has lectured widely on issues related to culture, creativity, and equity, and has taught at several institutions around the world including the Art Institute of Chicago; the Memphis College of Art; the Shristi School of Art, Design and Technology; and the California College of the Arts.
As an artist and curator, Sanjit’s work has spanned different media and geographies. Past works include the Kuni Wada Bakery Remembrance; Richmond Voting Stories; and the Gypsy Bridge project. Recent curatorial projects have included Spiked: The Unpublished Political Cartoons of Rob Rogers and the upcoming exhibition, 6.13.89 The Cancelling of the Mapplethorpe Exhibition. Additionally, Sanjit is currently working on the Portland Hospice Potters Network and a body of paintings and drawings—the Delta Series. Sanjit’s work deals with issues of nomadism, identity, the residue of labor, and memory.
After completing a Fulbright fellowship in Bangalore, India, working on the Building Nomads project, he continued his strong focus on interdisciplinary collaboration as director of the MFA program at the Memphis College of Art. Sanjit has also served as Director of the Center for Art and Public Life and Barclay Simpson Professor and Chair of Community Arts at the California College of the Arts and Executive Director of the Santa Fe Art Institute (SFAI). In 2015, Sanjit was appointed faculty and inaugural Director of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at The George Washington University.
In May 2019, Sanjit was named as the next president of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), a post which he will assume of July 15.