MFA and BFA Student Art Galleries

The Student Galleries include six individual galleries in the Department of Art & Art History and one student gallery in Design that may be used for object-based or process/time-oriented installations, performances, and displays. These are supplemented with numerous display cases, wall areas, and mural spaces that serve as a showcase and educational forum for students, both individually and as part of class projects. With exhibitions changing weekly in the Student Galleries and supplementary display areas, over 200 exhibits of student artwork are presented every year.

Gallery view of MFA Group Exhibition, Herbert Sanders Gallery, 2020. 

The most important allocation of these spaces is to provide exhibition space for BFA, MA, and MFA students to present one- or two-person exhibitions in fulfillment of degree requirements. The remaining student gallery spaces are allocated on a first-come/first-served basis for student and class exhibitions. This is an extremely popular program, with an ongoing waiting list of students desiring the experience of installing an exhibition of their work. As these exhibitions are self-curated, they display a wide range of aesthetic, media, and technique by young artists and designers who are pushing the very parameters of what art and design can be; during the opening receptions for the weekly student exhibitions (coordinated with the Tuesday Night Lecture Series), local Bay Area curators often drop by in order to see some of the freshest new work currently being produced.

Installation view of Leily Khatibi, MFA Thesis Exhibition, Gallery 3, 2019.

See more student work in the gallery archives.