FOR THESIS STUDENTS

This year’s summer thesis will have a physical exhibition at the SoWa location and an optional physical on-campus component in the Doran Gallery on campus.

SoWa: MFA 2025 Summer Thesis

• Install: JULY 15 – 18
• Exhibition: JULY 19 – AUGUST 10
• First Friday: AUGUST 1
• Deinstall: AUGUST 10 – 12

Doran: MFA 2025 Summer Thesis (optional – curated by the students)

• Install: JULY 12 – 20
• Exhibition: JULY 21 – AUGUST 8
• Thesis Talks + Reception: JULY 30
• Deinstall: AUGUST 9 – 12

Contact gradprogram@massart.edu if you would like to try to schedule an alternative time for de-install / pickup, or to notify the team of your intended de-install pickup time.

*MassArt x SoWa and the Graduate Programs staff are not responsible for any work remaining in the spaces after the deadline. Artists who are unable to pick up work during these times are responsible for making alternative arrangements for deinstall and notifying the MassArt Grad Programs / MassArt x SoWa Staff.

MFA 2025 SUMMER THESIS CURATOR: DANNI SHEN 

Danni Shen is a curator and writer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is currently organizing exhibitions at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University. Previous curatorial roles include at The Kitchen, Empty Gallery, and Wave Hill in New York. She has been a visiting critic at Tufts SMFA, RISD, NYU-ITP, and Cornell AAP, and was also Critic-in-Residence at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), as well as Curator-in-Residence at Residency Unlimited. Shen is a contributor to various publications including BOMB Magazine, Art in America, Heichi Magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, Rhizome, AICA Magazine, and the Boston Art Review among others. She holds an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS) Bard College.

ROUND 1 | Monday May 5

• 15 minutes each
• Virtually 

STUDENT MATERIALS FOLDERS | FOR R1

R1 CURATOR VISITS SCHEDULE

ROUND 2 | Thursday June 26

• In person with Danni + Felicia
• 30 minutes each 

• MANDATORY TECH RUN-THROUGH: Tuesday, 7/29  | 11am – DMC Lecture Hall (maybe during Thesis Defense 7/23)
• PUBLIC ARTIST TALKS: Wednesday, 7/30| 4:30-6:00pm EST.

The MFA Artist Talks are short 15 minute presentations from each artist. As you may remember if you tuned into last year’s presentations, thesis students give virtual talks to the public, including the MassArt community and beyond in a hybrid event. Your artist talks for 2025 will follow the same model: live via Zoom, featuring 15-minute talks with screen-shares.

Following are some guidelines for your artist talks:

• Talks should be 15 minutes per artist.
• Talks should involve a screen-share presentation with images of your work, including individual pieces and installation shots.
• The Grad Office will share installation images from the SoWa and Doran galleries with all artists prior to the thesis talk run-through, to be incorporated into your presentation if you choose.
• Please do not include extensive imagery of other artists/influences. 
• Talks should not involve in-studio demos or moving web cameras.
• You may include (LIMITED) video clips where applicable; please keep clips brief.
• Please practice your talk! Keep it as close as possible to 10 minutes.
• Artist talks may be presented from a location of your choosing, but this must be a quiet space with sufficient internet bandwidth. We strongly recommend that you join the tech run-through from the same location that you plan to use during the official talks. If this is not possible, we will be happy to schedule an additional brief individual tech check closer to the date of the talks. Please use Zoom presentation Best Practices (linked on this page), as outlined during the thesis workshop. We DO NOT recommend multiple students presenting from different computers in the same room, due to potential sound feedback issues on Zoom.

The presentation should focus on your thesis work, and may include any other work that relates to your broader practice and other work made during your MFA program. We expect all 2025 thesis artists to participate in artist talks.

We will do a tech-run through for all exhibiting artists — during this run-through we will troubleshoot any potential screen-share, timing, or other tech issues. You will also be able to run through your full 15-minute presentation with just the grad team and your cohort present, as a way to ensure that everything flows smoothly and you want the opportunity to do a full practice run before the public talks.

We hope that you will join us for the public First Friday exhibition reception for the MFA 2025 Summer Thesis Exhibition at MassArt x SoWa!

AUGUST 1 | 5-9pm  

We tend to promote the fact that the artists will be present in person at the gallery for the First Friday events, so let us know if you, for any reason, cannot attend the reception for the exhibition in which your work is featured.

The MassArt Graduate Programs provide refreshments for gallery receptions, including wine, non-alcoholic beverages, and snacks. Participating students are welcome to bring additional food/drink items; please let the grad team know in advance if you plan to bring additional food/drink.

Doran: MFA 2025 SUMMER THESIS (optional – curated by the students)

• Install: JULY 12 – 20
• Exhibition: JULY 21 – AUGUST 8
• Thesis Talks + Reception: JULY 30 (TALKS 4:30-6:00PM // RECEPTION 6:00-8:00PM)
• Deinstall: AUGUST 9 – 12

We have reserved the Doran gallery for an on-campus component of the exhibition (see dates above). The way in which this space will be used will be decided based on student feedback and needs, with the consultation of the graduate team. This component of the thesis is optional, while the SoWa exhibition is mandatory for all thesis students. Please discuss as a group and let the graduate team know by 06/18/25 by email, which members of the cohort do want to participate in the Doran component and who will be the primary point person for the group.

The opportunity to show work at the Doran gallery for graduating MFA students is something we love to offer because it provides an opportunity for students to self-curate a concurrent (or separate branch) of the show, site specific installation, etc. that works as a companion to the professional thesis exhibition at SoWa. We would love to learn more about what you have in mind for the space! Please keep in mind when considering the Doran component that this is not designed as merely a way to show all of the work that is not selected by the curator for the SoWa exhibition. Instead, it is an opportunity to use those skills you’ve honed in your program and really lean into a curatorial project with your peers or to create that immersive site-specific installation you may not otherwise have the opportunity to create. We’re interested in creating some exciting relationships between the two exhibitions for students who wish to take this opportunity.

This year’s thesis workshop will be held on Thursday 6/27 from 10am – 2pm at MassArt x SoWa Gallery.

Initial Artist Assets (due 07/02) include:

• INITIAL ARTIST IMAGES: 2-5 high-resolution images that represent your thesis work as it currently stands. (naming convention:  ArtistName_TitleOfArtWork_YYYY_dimensions-or-runtime). These will be used for the early stages of print and digital promotion.
• ARTIST HEADSHOT: image of yourself – note this image will be cropped to a square aspect ratio and made black & white. We can do this for you, or if you’d like to have control of the cropping/ adjustments, please upload a b&w image already cropped in a square format. Head shot images should be 1000px minimum on the long side.
• ARTIST BIO:  50-75 words (please keep your bio within the word count, write in the third person, and do not feel the need to mention your MassArt MFA, as it is implied by context.) *PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HANDLE AND/OR WEBSITE IN THE BIO DOCUMENT, ABOVE YOUR BIO.
• ARTIST POSTCARD IMAGES: Please upload these HERE as soon as possible, and by 07/-2 at the latest. Remember that these images must be a 4:6 (2:3) aspect ratio (JPEGs / 2000px minimum on the long edge, naming convention:  ArtistName_Postcard_TitleOfArtWork_YYYY_dimensions). Images that are not submitted as a 4×6 aspect ratio will be cropped. Please crop your digital images generously, keeping in mind a standard bleed/safe-line for printing.

Final Artist Assets (due 07/13) include: 

• FINAL ARTIST IMAGES: 6-20 high-resolution images that represent your thesis work. (2000px JPEGs, naming convention: ArtistName_TitleOfArtWork_Year_dimensions/run time). These will be displayed on your MassArt x SoWa artist page, used to collect label/caption info for your work, and can be supplemented with in-gallery professional documentation after your work is installed.
• ARTIST STATEMENT: 150-250 words (please keep your statement within the word count; reference your current thesis work and, if applicable, your practice more broadly)