Residency: SVA
School of Visual Arts in NYC (2020)
During the 2019–2020 academic year, Sloan Leo Cowan served as the inaugural Designer‑in‑Residence in the Master’s Design for Social Innovation program at the School of Visual Arts (SVA).
In this role, they:
Co‑designed and launched Community Design for Leaders (CDL): a semester‑long learning lab where emerging designers engaged in justice‑centered practice, combining participatory workshops, mentorship circles, and project studios.
Integrated social‑practice art methodologies into the SVA curriculum, introducing tools like facilitation mapping, relational aesthetics exercises, and speculative co‑design rituals that prompted students to prototype community‑driven solutions for real‑world partners.
Led public engagements for the broader SVA community, including guest lectures, panel discussions, and the keynote address at SVA’s 2021 Art & Activism Symposium, all amplifying questions of power, equity, and abolitionist care in design education