Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University opens its 2022 MFA Thesis Exhibitions this month 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-lapses, 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; and inherited histories and memories and communal healing and catharsis.

Associate Dean and Graduate Studies Director Chad Curtis describes 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 effect 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 the Temple Contemporary galleries in Philadelphia, and in Italy at the Temple University Rome Gallery of Art, Temple University Rome Campus.

When they graduate, Tyler’s MFA Class of 2022 will join a community of 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.

Visit tyler.temple.edu to read more about participating students.