B.F.A. and M.F.A. exhibits to open at McDonough Museum of Art
November 13, 2020
The work of a dozen graduating Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) students, as well as an exhibit from a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) student that explores racism in America, will be featured in new exhibits at the McDonough Museum of Art beginning Friday, November 20 and running through Saturday, December 12.
The “Fall Graduating B.F.A. Exhibit” will include works in the areas of photography, graphic + interactive design, and interdisciplinary studio art. Students with work featured in the exhibit include Taylor Campy, Lexi Chismar, Elijah DuPonty, Ben Kerr, Brendon Lucas, Sulerach Rose Rivera, Hannah Roberts, Angela Rodino, Kim Schilling, Christian Steff, Taylor Valerio, and Alaina Woofter.
In addition, work from two students who graduated at the conclusion of the spring 2020 semester with B.F.A. degrees will be included in this exhibit. The spring 2020 B.F.A. exhibit was cancelled, so students Michaela Best and Michelle Gabriel have been given the opportunity to show their work this fall instead.
The McDonough will also be featuring Master of Fine Arts student Venise Abell’s thesis exhibition titled “Black Still.” Abell is an interdisciplinary visual arts major, a Youngstown native, and a 1984 graduate of Youngstown South High School. Her exhibit focuses on racism in America.
“Racism and inequality are influential factors in my narratives,” Abell said. “My work educates the viewer on the insidious ways the government has, over the last 400 years, passed laws that degraded, devalued, and murdered black Americans. Many blacks fled the south to the north with expectations of a better life but soon painfully realized that there was no escape from racism. We are ‘Black Still.’”
Entry to the exhibits is free and open to the public.