Connections is a hybrid exhibition, existing both online and in-person, to reflect the dual nature of the Senior Painting course structure this year. This exhibition combines artwork from students in third year painting whose work throughout the term responded to assigned projects as well as self-directed work, and fourth year students, visiting research students and an auditing student who all developed self-directed projects. Their works, although varied across subject matter, technical application, and approach to content, come together in one exhibition to explore their connections.

Blended learning environments require us to navigate connections online, while simultaneously connecting with one another in person. Our correspondences are based around context, space and place and the experiences we are all bringing with us. These senior painting students spent both Fall 2021 and Winter 2022 exploring the relationships they could create from the directed assignments to their interests and learned how to incorporate their painting languages into projects that involved external directions. Through the development of unique strategies to approach these projects, connections formed within each painting, and between paintings from one student to the next.

Noted on each artists information card beside their work (in-person) and below their work (online), is the designation of their painting, whether it was for an assigned project, or a self-directed work. 
Two assigned projects are explained below.

Inspired by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt’s project titled “Oblique Strategies,” students were provided prompt cards for overcoming creative blocks, where one word, or one phrase presented a dilemma in which the student had to find a practical solution to. An example of this; “make a red painting.” Students were able to offer their own interpretation to the card’s prompt, while using conceptual strategies and technical problem solving to respond.

Secondary to this assigned project, was a required project for third year painting students and a voluntary project for fourth year and visiting students. The project was to partake in a Global Classroom, through the COIL Project, an international classroom experiment where students in the Senior Painting Class, met online with History Students from the Tec de Monterrey and Higher Education in Mexico. Students were to discuss in depth, one of four topics; the pandemic of 1918 – connecting the Spanish Influenza to the current pandemic in order to learn from history; suffrage movements – posters to fight for women’s rights; global warming and the environment; and the Cold War – iconographic portfolios. They were to then create a painting based in collaborative conversations around their chosen historical topic.

Curated by Chelsea Brant, current MFA candidate and Teaching Assistant for the Senior Painting Course.


Instructor: Associate Professor, Allyson Glenn

Students: Camelia Adams, Moss Allen, Rubayat Amin, Mishel Barabas, Lauren Bell, Charlize Bremont, Darwin Cowell, Rowen Dinsmore, Abriana Fortugno, McCall Kindt, Marta Krueger, Keitha McClocklin, Kristin Newton, Hailey Weber, Tom Yanko, Suki Yu, Ming Zhang, Rabecca, Gabriela Sieminska (visiting research student), Cheryl Buckmaster (visiting research student).