The Show Must Go On: How the Senior BFA students at TCNJ put on their solo exhibitions during a pandemic

November 1, 2020

Story by: by Lily Gilston

EWING TOWNSHIP, NJ (MERCER)–This year has been anything but ordinary, and the 14 Senior Visual Arts students at the College of New Jersey can attest to that statement as they navigate planning their one-and-only Solo exhibitions on campus.

With hard work and dedication, and with the support of the TCNJ Art Department and the TCNJ Art Gallery, the Seniors are able to showcase their work from behind the glass windows of the Art and Interactive Multimedia (AIMM) building on campus. Visitors can see the work from the AIMM Courtyard, which was once a communal gathering place in between studio classes. The courtyard is accessible through the Lot 5 parking lot on the Ewing campus and overlooks the football field. Visitors will be required to follow the COVID-19 guidelines implemented throughout the TCNJ campus, including wearing a mask at all times and maintaining 6-feet of social distance.

Session One of the Senior BFA solo exhibitions opened on Wednesday, October 28th, and will be on view to the public until November 4th.

Session One features the work of emerging artists Lily Gilston, Sarah Valente, Halle Luttrell, Lucia Gardiner, Addison Cooper, and Shelly Crooz. Their paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, and installations will be viewed exclusively from the outside, unlike any solo exhibitions before this semester. Read more about the Session One shows here on the TCNJ Art Gallery website.

Fine Arts Major Halle Luttrell added, “We’ve all worked really hard these past couple of months to put together these shows, despite the challenging and perpetually changing situation we’re in. It’s the ultimate test for us as young artists, to overcome this adversity and think creatively to solve the problem of how to show our work, and in the end, we’ll all be better off from this experience.”

Session Two of the Senior Solo Exhibitions features the work of Ash Albeser, Ryan Levy, Stephanie Rosenthal, and Jamie Davidson. Session Two will be on view from November 13th through November 19th, with a public Opening Reception held in the courtyard on Friday, November 13th from 5:30-7pm. Visitors will be required to follow the same safety protocols as with the first opening.

All BFA Seniors will have their work published on TCNJFineArt.com, with a virtual launch on November 12th at 7 PM that is open to the public. Samantha Kearney, Heather Simpson, Jayln Giles-Ewell, and Madison Cascardo will have exclusively virtual exhibitions published on the online platform.

The BFA Seniors thank their professor, Liselot Van Der Heijden, for encouraging them to “be good and do good work.” They also extend gratitude to the School of the Arts and Communications at TCNJ and the TCNJ Art Department for their flexibility and allowing time to work in-studio on their shows, and to Kyle Lopinto and Olivia Burton for their commitment to making sure the shows go on.

Keep up with the Seniors @tcnjbfa21 on Instagram