2022 MFA Thesis Exhibitions Open at Tyler, in Rome

Themes of collective identity, preservation of memories, living in a time of disease, and communal healing and catharsis permeate works by 25 graduate students. 

The Tyler School of Art and Architecture opens its 2022 MFA Thesis Exhibitions this week with works by 25 students in Philadelphia, Rome and online, the culmination of two years of intensive artistic and critical development.  

Through works on paper and canvas, photography, fibers ceramics, metals, time-lapsed and mixed media, the MFA students speak to individual and collective lived experiences that touch on cultural, social, racial, gender, familial, and class identities; loss, grief, trauma and vulnerability; racial reckoning and ecological peril; inherited histories and memories, and communal healing and catharsis. 

Associate Dean and Graduate Studies Director Chad Curtis described this year’s graduating MFA candidates as exceptional makers, both in their studio practices and the influences on their aesthetic approach. 

“Beyond their creativity and skills as artists, what truly sets them apart is their character. They are passionate, sensitive, and generous artists and community members, and their impact on the world will be felt in their professional lives,” said Curtis. “More importantly, they will affect change by how they choose to live their lives, and the communities they create and participate in.”  

Tyler's annual MFA Thesis Exhibitions showcase the breadth of artistic possibilities in its MFA program as well as the intersectionality of studio practice and education for which Tyler is known. The exhibitions will be held March 9–April 16, 2022 in person at the Temple Contemporary galleries at 2001 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122 and at Temple University Rome's Gallery of Art, Temple University Rome Campus, Lungotevere Arnaldo Da Brescia, 15 Rome, Italy 00196. 

When they graduate, Tyler’s MFA Class of 2022 will join a community of distinguished alumni that includes Moe Brooker (BFA ’70, MFA ‘72); Edgar Heap of Birds (MFA ‘79); Harriete Estel Berman (MFA ’80); Virgil Marti (MFA ‘90); Anoka Faruqee (MFA ‘97); Trenton Doyle Hancock (MFA ‘00); Will Villalongo (MFA ‘01); Erin Riley (MFA ‘09); Amber Cowan (MFA ‘11) and Kara Springer (MFA ‘17), among others. 

Read more about participating students here.

Image: Todd Stong (MFA ‘22), Archway (detail), 2021 monotype polyptych, 165”x157"