A look at this month’s full slate of guest lectures, open studios, and gallery showcases.
Bixuan Ji, Release of Desire, 2024, inkjet print, 27 ½ x 35 ½ inches each. On view at “Future Utopias.”
Bixuan Ji, Release of Desire, 2024, inkjet print, 27 ½ x 35 ½ inches each. On view at “Future Utopias.”
With the spring semester at the School of Visual Arts in full swing, March brings a packed calendar of exhibitions, installations, and public programs to the College’s galleries and academic spaces. From year-end thesis shows to open studios to public talks across campus, here is a look at what’s happening at SVA this month.
EXHIBITIONS
Through Thursday, March 5 | “Future Utopias” | SVA Gramercy Gallery, 209 East 23rd Street
Curated by Xiaoyue (Sawyer) Feng and Bixuan Ji (both MFA Computer Arts), “Future Utopias” features multidisciplinary work by 12 students from BFA 3D Animation and Visual Effects, MFA Computer Arts, and MFA Products of Design. The exhibition uses emerging technology to imagine speculative futures, exploring how tools such as AI-generated motion and holographic imagery reshape identity, materiality, and the “future body.”
Presented by SVA Student Health and Counseling Services, this year’s HOPE (Help Overcome Pessimism Early) exhibition centers on a quote from American artist Bob Ross: “All it takes is just a little change of perspective, and you begin to see a whole new world.” The street-facing installation features 17 finalists selected for their creative approach to mental health awareness and transformative perspectives.
This multimedia showcase highlights work developed by MPS Art Therapy students in collaboration with the various communities and internship sites they serve. The exhibition explores the intersection of creative practice and care-oriented, relational contexts.
Through Thursday, March 19 | “Evening Star” | SVA Flatiron Project Space, 133/141 West 21st Street
Curated by faculty member Katie Cercone, “Evening Star” is an immersive exhibition exploring matrifocal spiritual ecology and feminine folk wisdom. Featuring professional artists and students from Cercone’s “Gender Trouble” course, the show centers female energy through the lens of herbalism, folklore, and ancestral magic.
A hallmark of the BFA Photography and Video department, “Mentors” presents work by students inspired by their one-on-one relationships with world-renowned artists, curators, and editors. Curated by department chair Joseph Maida, the show offers a glimpse into the professional evolution of the College's emerging lens-based artists. An opening reception will be held on Tuesday, March 10, from 6:00 – 8:00pm.
Seongho Lee (BFA Illustration), Look Up, 2026. Lee’s poster won the Fan Favorite award in the 2026 HOPE Art Competition at SVA. On view at “2026 Annual HOPE Art Competition.”
Seongho Lee (BFA Illustration), Look Up, 2026. Lee’s poster won the Fan Favorite award in the 2026 HOPE Art Competition at SVA. On view at “2026 Annual HOPE Art Competition.”
This long-running spring exhibition highlights the commercial and conceptual rigor of the BFA Advertising and BFA Design programs. The show features a wide range of work, from brand identity and motion graphics to social impact campaigns.
Thursday, March 19, 6:00 – 8:00pm | “MFA Computer Arts Spring Open Studios” | 133/141 West 21st Street, 12th floor
MFA Computer Arts invites the public into its labs to view multidisciplinary projects in progress. The evening features immersive installations, animation, and interactive works, highlighting the department’s focus on the intersection of art and emerging technology.
Thursday, March 19, 6:00 – 9:00pm | “MFA Fine Arts Spring Open Studios” | 133/141 West 21st Street, 8th and 9th floors
Explore the private workspaces of MFA Fine Arts students. This event, featuring 70 artists, offers a rare opportunity to engage with artists in their studio environment and view a wide range of work in progress.
Presented by BFA Visual and Critical Studies, this exhibition focuses on the drawings and paper-based works of the acclaimed artist Mary Frank. The collection highlights her career-long exploration of the human form and the natural world through a delicate yet powerful use of line and texture. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 26, 6:00 – 8:00pm.
Closing out the month, the BFA Illustration and BFA Comics departments take over the Chelsea Gallery for their annual spring showcase, featuring narrative art, sequential storytelling, and diverse illustrative styles.
Yan Yan, Untitled, 2026, inkjet print, 19 x 13 inches. On view at “Mentors 2026.”
Yan Yan, Untitled, 2026, inkjet print, 19 x 13 inches. On view at “Mentors 2026.”
EVENTS
MPS Digital Photography’s i3 Photo Lecture series welcomes Stephanie Berger, who discusses her career capturing the performing arts for iconic institutions like the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center. Berger will share insights into the unique challenges of photographing live movement and the importance of timing in dance photography.
Presented by MA Curatorial Practice, the Milan-based curatorial duo Francesco Urbano Ragazzi discusses their international research-based projects and the intersection of contemporary art and digital culture. They will also address their experience working with the estate of Jonas Mekas and the challenges of archiving avant-garde history.
Presented by BFA Visual and Critical Studies and the SVA Honors Program, writer and activist M. E. O’Brien discusses themes from her latest research on trans history and social structures. O’Brien’s lecture will explore the psychoanalytic and political implications of family life in queer communities. Her work examines explicitly how gender identity is negotiated within the symbolic frameworks of both traditional and radical kinship.
MFA Fine Arts presents a talk by artist Jude Tallichet, whose work reimagines everyday objects through sculpture and sound to explore the distance between memory and materiality. Tallichet will discuss her studio practice and her use of unconventional materials, such as acrylic and gypsum, to question the inherent power of the mundane. Her recent projects often transform functional items.
In honor of Women’s History Month, SVA welcomes actress and writer Eva Reign (star of Anything’s Possible) for a keynote discussion hosted by the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Reign will reflect on her journey as a Black trans woman in the entertainment industry and the importance of authentic representation.
Wednesday, March 18, 9:00 – 10:00am | The Curatorial Roundtable: Lilou Vidal (Turin) | Online
Turin-based independent curator Lilou Vidal joins MA Curatorial Practice to discuss her work navigating the archives of experimental artists and the “living” nature of the exhibition format. Her presentation focuses on the curatorial responsibility of presenting ephemeral and site-specific works in a gallery context. Vidal will also share how her non-profit project, Bureau des Réalités, serves as a hub for artistic research and poetic manifestation.
Thursday, March 19, 7:00 – 9:00pm | Moon Lab | SVA Flatiron Project Space, 133/141 West 21st Street
An evening of additional programming in conjunction with the “Evening Star” exhibition, featuring performances and activations by Sal Chen, Fanny Perez, and Juliet Rania. This event invites participants to engage directly with the exhibition’s themes through communal rituals and live art.
MFA Illustration as Visual Essay hosts an intimate conversation between illustrators Dasha Tolstikova and Brian Floca on the craft of visual storytelling and the business of picture books. The duo will share their personal methodologies for developing characters and negotiating the publishing landscape.
MFA Fine Arts presents a talk by the art historian Christina Knight entitled “Choreographic Time: Fugitivity, Opacity, and Chronology in Glenn Ligon's To Disembark (1993).” Knight’s work examines the connection between embodied practices and identity, the relationship between race and the visual field, and the queer imaginary. This session will offer a deep dive into the historical and aesthetic strategies contemporary artists use to represent the complexities of Black life.
The MPS Digital Photography department presents a talk by Stacy Arezou Mehrfar, an Iranian-American visual artist whose work explores the concepts of place and belonging. Mehrfar will present work from her series The Moon Belongs to Everyone, which examines the complexities of the immigrant experience.
Wednesday, March 25, 9:00 – 10:00am | The Curatorial Roundtable: Simon Kelly (St. Louis) | Online
Simon Kelly, curator of modern art at the Saint Louis Art Museum, discusses curatorial practice within the context of major museum collections for MA Curatorial Practice. Kelly will discuss the nuances of organizing large-scale exhibitions that bridge historical periods and contemporary audiences. He will also share his experience managing high-profile international loans for major retrospectives.
Thursday, March 26, 9:00 – 10:00am | The Algorithmic State: Orbiting Empathy | Online
Hosted by MA Curatorial Practice, this virtual talk explores the intersection of technology, algorithmic governance, and empathy cultivation. The lecture will examine how automated systems influence human behavior and the artist's role in critiquing these invisible structures. The session aims to provide a framework for understanding how digital narratives shape our social and political realities.
Friday, March 27, 6:00 – 7:30pm | Art Therapy and Creative Aging | Online
MPS Art Therapy presents a community lecture on the role of creative practice in advancing the health and well-being of older populations. This session highlights research and practical applications of art therapy in maintaining cognitive health and social connection in seniors. Participants will learn about the evolving field of creative aging and its impact on community health policy.
Tuesday, March 31, 7:00 – 8:30pm | i3 Photo Lecture: Andrew Prokos | 136 West 21st Street, Room 418F
Architectural photographer Andrew Prokos shares insights into his award-winning fine art and commercial work for MPS Digital Photography. Prokos will discuss his technical approach to capturing high-resolution urban panoramas and the transition from commercial assignments to gallery exhibitions. His lecture will cover the aesthetic decisions required to turn sprawling urban infrastructure into compelling, museum-grade art.
MFA Fine Arts welcomes Jacqueline Humphries to discuss the question of what contemporary abstract painting can mean in a society mediated online. Over the past four decades, Humphries has used gridded stencils, fluorescent paint, emoticons, and black light to paraphrase and rewrite the codes of post-war abstraction. Her large-scale, commanding paintings invite close inspection while, at the same time, eluding and confusing viewers about how their surfaces were worked.
Qinza Najm, Reclaim Space 1–2, 2018. Oil on Canvas, 36 x 24 in. On view at “Evening Star.”
Qinza Najm, Reclaim Space 1–2, 2018
Oil on Canvas, 36 x 24 in. On view at “Evening Star.”