Mina Cheon
Dean of Undergraduate Studies Mina Cheon (천민정) was born in Seoul, South Korea and lives and works in Baltimore, New York, and Seoul. She received her PhD in Philosophy of Media and Communications from the European Graduate School, European University for Interdisciplinary Studies, Switzerland; MFA in Imaging Digital Arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; MFA from the Hoffberger School of Painting, MICA; and BFA in Painting from Ewha Womans University (EWHA), Seoul, Korea. Cheon has been a Full-time Professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) since 2004, teaching first-year experience, interactive media, art history, and humanistic studies. Before stepping into her current role as Dean, she served as Associate Dean of First Year Experience (FYE). She has also been active in international education. She was a visiting professor and lecturer at EWHA and a mentor of Art-Uni-On, a global mentorship network by Hyundai Co. and the Seoul National University College of Fine Arts. She was awarded the 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Unity Week Award at MICA for her efforts promoting cultural diversity within and beyond her college. She also directed the MICA Korea summer abroad exchange program between 2004-2007, an intercultural and interdisciplinary art and design program in partnership with different universities of Korea including Hongik University, Korean University of Arts, and EWHA. She continued and advanced international art and design education at EWHA’s art and design, and global affairs departments for the next decade during the summers. Cheon is the author of Shamanism + Cyberspace (Atropos Press, 2009), was a contributor for ArtUS, Wolgan Misool, New York Arts Magazine, Artist Organized Art, and served on the Board of Directors of the New Media Caucus of the College Art Association. She also was Associate Editor of the academic journal Media-N where she contributed critical essays covering SeMA Mediacity Seoul Biennale 2016 and the Venice Biennale 2017. As an artist, Cheon is a new media artist and global activist best known for her “Polipop” art (political pop art) and has exhibited internationally, including at the Inaugural Asia Society Triennial 2020-2021, Busan Biennale 2018, American University Museum (solo show “Haunted Koreas” in 2022), and Sungkok Art Museum. Her work is in the collections of the Baltimore Museum of Art, Smith College Museum of Art, and Seoul Museum of Art. She is represented by the Ethan Cohen Gallery in New York and works with a sister gallery Kate Shin Waterfall Mansion and Gallery in New York.
