“The Center offers an incredible opportunity to work collectively on an issue that has tremendous impact on my work with design and schools.”
Prior to his appointment as Professor at the Penny W. Stamps School of Art and Design in 2003, Tobier spent four years as assistant professor at the School of Art at Alfred. In his current research and teaching, Tobier focuses on the integration of art and society, and actively challenges artists to expand their self-definitions and scope. These efforts have included partnerships with artists and farmers; a design-build partnership with Detroit Community Schools; and a small array of micro-enterprises from a mobile market to a bike-building collective, all focusing on capacity building, ground design, and public art as a vital language. Tobier earned his BA in History and Art at Swarthmore College (1989); attended the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University (1997-99); and completed his MFA at The Milton Avery Graduate Center at Bard College (1997).