Each year the terminal creative projects from our MFA candidates elevate and activate discourse and pleasure in the Art Department and across the College of Design with an ethos of fearless possibility. Their creative research of new knowledge, or the rearrangement of old knowledge, brings with it the sense that new texts have been penned, and new discourses activated.
The University of Oregon MFA Art Exhibition 2022 culminates three years of independent research and experimentation by a cohort of eight artists whose various practices engage a broad range of inquiry, from expressions of the personal and diaristic to the examination and fictionalization of history, gender, magical thinking, cinema tropes, and the natural world.
Over the last three years these candidates have navigated generational complexities while trying to transform their experiences and transcend the moment. This year marks the 99th year of the University’s MFA degree, making it one of the oldest programs in the country. As the program’s centennial moment approaches, we watch The MFA Graduates of 2022 realize their creative perspectives while challenging their audiences to view the world through a new lens.
Jack Tuttle Snell-Ryan
Director of Graduate Studies