We first profiled Duncan McGillivray-Smith (MMFS ‘17) in 2023, when he had just graduated from Pratt Institute with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting. Fast forward to 2025: He has just had his first solo show in a Chicago gallery, receiving this rapturous review from renowned critic John Yau in Hyperallergic, which said in part:
McGillivray-Smith’s debut is impressive. Each of the scenes he builds through paint has its own logic and feels hard won.The composition and elements work in tandem to convey an open-ended narrative. Finally, and most importantly, these domains all belong to the artist.
Art teacher (and 11th grade dean) Caitlin Clifford, tells us:
When we knew him at MMFS, Duncan was not only a wonderful soccer player and a pro skateboarder, but also a brilliant artist. Notably, he was part of the cohort of students who inspired us to create The Senior Art Show; he’s even returned to MMFS to visit the show! I had the pleasure of attending his BFA thesis opening at Pratt with a few of his middle school art teachers. When I saw him there, he spoke confidently about his work. He told me he’d like to teach eventually and that he loves talking about art now. He’s currently enrolled in an MFA program at SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago).
If you want to see one of Duncan’s paintings in person, there’s a moody landscape hanging on the third floor of the upper school. He made this painting during lunchtime painting sessions in Room 305 when I was his 10th grade advisor, the year before I became his art teacher.
Congratulations, Duncan!
