California College of the Arts presents the 2025 MFA Fine Arts graduate exhibitions
On view April 30 through May 17 at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Deborah and Kenneth Novack Gallery
San Francisco, CA—April 14, 2025—California College of the Arts announces a new exhibition featuring work by 20 emerging artists from its Fine Arts graduate program. The 2025 MFA Fine Arts exhibition spans across multiple galleries on the college’s campus, including the newly opened CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Deborah and Kenneth Novack Gallery. The exhibition is organized by Glen Helfand, associate professor of Graduate Fine Arts, and Aaron Gach, senior adjunct professor of Graduate Fine Arts.
On view from April 30 through May 17, 2025, a diverse range of works in painting, sculpture, photography, printmaking, installation, and textiles will be featured. Artists include Gabrielle Anderman, Amanda Bristow, Isaiah Brownstein, Chloe Cortez, Leyla Dualeh, Nasib Elahimehr, J-P Herdeg, Angela Jin, Chloe King, Nagi Lee, Rosemary McDermott, Marilyn Montúfar, Molly Rapp, Jonah Reenders, Yelyzaveta Rudenok, Zedekiah Gonsalves Schild, Elaine Sheen, Ashley Spencer, Badri Valian, and Krista Wright.
“It is an exciting moment for the Class of 2025, the first to create and show their work at CCA’s newly expanded campus, in the CCA Wattis Institute and the Novack galleries, as well as on the outdoor plaza between them,” says Helfand. “The artists will debut works developed over the past two years that encompass compelling intersections of personal, social, and aesthetic concerns. Projects engage with themes of community, contemporary life, social media, emotional perspectives, ecological concerns, political reverberations, and exuberant queer theatricality.”
An opening reception, which will include additional film screenings, will take place on Thursday, May 1, from 5 to 8 pm. A collegewide reception will be held on Friday, May 16, from 5 to 8 pm.
Exhibition details
Dates: April 30 – May 17, 2025
Location: CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts and Deborah and Kenneth Novack Gallery, 145 Hooper Street, San Francisco
Admission: Free and open to the public
Gallery Hours: Wednesday–Saturday, noon–6 pm
About CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) educates students to shape culture and society through art, architecture, design, and writing. Located in the vibrant San Francisco Bay Area, CCA uniquely prepares students for lifelong creative work by fostering social and environmental responsibility, innovation, and community engagement.
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, founded in 1998 as part of the college, is a nonprofit exhibition venue and research institute focused on contemporary art and ideas. The Wattis commissions and showcases new work by emerging and established artists from around the world. Additionally, an entire year is dedicated to explore the work of a single artist, informing public programs and publications.
Recent solo exhibitions at the Wattis include Rodrigo Hernández: with what eyes, Ana Jotta: Never the Less; Caitlin Cherry: The Regolith Was Boiling; Drum Listens to Heart; Hervé Guibert: This and More; Josh Faught: Look Across the Water Into the Darkness, Look for the Fog. The 2024–2025 season is dedicated to artist Hiwa K; past seasons featured Anicka Yi, Lorraine O’Grady, Cecilia Vicuña, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Dodie Bellamy, and Joan Jonas. For more information, visit wattis.org.
The new Wattis gallery space is part of CCA’s expanded campus, adding 82,300 square feet of space to teach, make, and present art in a continuous indoor-outdoor environment. Designed by world-renowned architecture firm Studio Gang completed this fall 2024, the new addition brings together 30 academic programs and disciplines, student housing and dining, and interdisciplinary learning.