California College of the Arts presents the 2024 MFA Fine Arts graduate exhibitions at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
This two-part exhibition debuts work from 20 emerging artists in CCA’s graduate program in fine arts
California College of the Arts presents the 2024 MFA Fine Arts graduate exhibitions.
San Francisco, CA—February 28, 2024—On Thursday, March 14, a two-part exhibition featuring work by 20 emerging artists from the California College of the Arts (CCA) graduate program in fine arts opens at the CCA Wattis Institute, located at 360 Kansas Street in San Francisco. The annual exhibition provides the students with the opportunity to present their work at an internationally-acclaimed gallery.
Organized by CCA Chair of Graduate Curatorial Practice Glen Helfand, along with MFA Fine Arts Chair Susanne Cockrell and exhibition faculty coordinator Aaron Gach, the exhibition features work across multiple mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, textiles, digital video, wool felt, and print. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Part one is on view from March 14 to 28, and part two is on view from April 4 to 18. Opening receptions for each exhibition are on the first viewing dates of each part (March 14 and April 4) from 5 to 8 pm. Details are included below.
“The MFA exhibition stands as a testament to the growth, vulnerability, and creative spirit of the 2024 graduating class. Over the course of two years, this class of diverse and talented artists committed themselves to openness and expansion, crafting this showcase out of their pluck and sweat equity,” says Helfand. “These exhibitions are their launching pad into the public world. We encourage visitors to stop by for both presentations.”
The 2024 MFA Fine Arts graduate exhibitions are dedicated to Peter Simensky, former chair of the Graduate Fine Arts program. His passing in December 2023 brought students and faculty closer together in grief and meaningful dialogue. The students have created a fully illustrated publication featuring works by the entire cohort. The book is a tangible manifestation of the students’ collective reverence and appreciation for Simensky’s contributions. The graduating artists offer their work as an expression of life and a bridge to the future, embodying a creative spirit that pays tribute to Simensky’s memory.
Exhibition details
Location: CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, 360 Kansas Street, San Francisco
Admission: Free and open to the public
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday, noon–6 pm
Exhibition, Part One
March 14–28, 2024
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 14, 5–8 pm
Featuring: Molly Barker, Seven Chen, Chrissa Chorvat, Lynse A. Cooper, Carrie Han, Peipei Li, Jason Stern, Gene VanWyk, Willow (陈柳静), Xiaohan Zhou
Exhibition, Part Two
April 4–18, 2024
Opening Reception, Thursday, April 4, 5–8 pm
Featuring: Cheng, Kelley Finley, John Furth, Luning Ge, Erica Hannel, Dottie Lo Bue, Duma Mock, J Moon, Deena Qabazard, Yue Xiang
About CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
Founded in 1998 at California College of the Arts in San Francisco and located a few blocks from its campus, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts is a nonprofit exhibition venue and research institute dedicated to contemporary art and ideas. As an exhibition space, it commissions and shows new work by emerging and established artists from around the world. Recent solo exhibitions 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; Mirra Helen: Leaves 1992 2022; Maia Cruz Palileo: Long Kwento; Raven Chacon: Radio Coyote; Jeffrey Gibson: Nothing is Eternal; Lydia Ourahmane: شمسیة صرخة Solar Cry; Cinthia Marcelle: A morta; Vincent Fecteau; Abbas Akhavan: cast for a folly; Akosua Adoma Owusu: Welcome to the Jungle (which traveled to the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans); Diamond Stingily: Doing the Best I Can; Rosha Yaghmai: Miraclegrow; Adam Linder: Full Service (which traveled to Mudam Luxembourg); Ken Lum: What’s Old is Old for a Dog; Henrik Olesen: The Walk.
As a research institute, the Wattis dedicates an entire year to reflect on the work of a single artist, which informs a regular series of public programs and publications involving the field’s most prominent artists and thinkers. The 2023–2024 season is dedicated to artist Anicka Yi; past seasons featured Lorraine O’Grady, Cecilia Vicuña, Trinh T. Minh-ha, Dodie Bellamy, Joan Jonas, Andrea Fraser, David Hammons, Seth Price.
The Wattis also hosts an annual Capp Street Artist-in-Residence, one of the earliest and longest-running artist-in-residence programs in the country, founded in 1983 by Ann Hatch as Capp Street Project, and incorporated into the Wattis Institute in 1998. Each year, an artist comes to live and work in San Francisco for a semester, teaches a graduate seminar at CCA, and presents an exhibition. Recent participants include Helen Mirra (2021-2022), Raven Chacon (2023-2021), Hồng-Ân Trương (2019-2020), Abbas Akhavan (2018–2019), contemptorary (2017–2018), Melanie Gilligan (2016–2017), Carissa Rodriguez (2015–2016), Nairy Baghramian (2014–2015), Claire Fontaine (2013–2014). For more information, visit wattis.org.