MFA Show, Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago — May 2019

Graduate Curatorial Fellows:
Lindsey Bell (Dual MA 2019)
Susan Mackey (MAAH 2019)
Shannon Waldman (Dual MA 2020)
Jacob Zhang (MAAH 2019)

Guest Curator:
Pedro Alonzo, independent curator and Adjunct Curator, Dallas Contemporary

The MFA Show is the culminating presentation of over 100 MFA candidates and an opportunity for new and ambitious work to be presented to the public. For more than six months, graduating MFA artists work with a team of three distinguished Guest Curators and twelve Graduate Curatorial Fellows to envision the exhibition. This invested approach allows for dialogue, process, and collaborative decision-making to guide the artists and curatorial teams as they work together to bring the MFA Show to fruition over time.

Graduate Curatorial Fellows (GCFs) serve as curatorial assistants for the Graduate Exhibition (“MFA Show”) curatorial team in Spring 2019. Directly aligned with one of the Guest Curators, Fellows take on responsibilities as dictated by their team to work with a select group of artists and to collaborate with the others to envision the exhibition as a whole. Fellows are actively involved in conceptual discussions, hands-on training, and participation in this overall scheme of curators, graduate fellows, faculty, staff, and participating artists in this major exhibition.

Working with Guest Curators, GCFs review MFA candidate-artists’ work and develop a close relationship with their designated artists to help them realize their ideas. They curate groupings and work collaboratively with the other GCFs, Guest Curators, Director of Exhibitions, Exhibition Producer, Exhibition Managers and operations staff with the goal of presenting the exhibition as a coherent whole and offering the best experience to the artists and the audience.