Boston University School of Visual Arts Announces 2026 BFA/BA Thesis Exhibitions
The 2026 BFA/BA thesis shows celebrate the works of 40 graduating students across BU’s undergraduate programs in Painting, Graphic Design, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Art
Boston University School of Visual Arts Announces 2026 BFA/BA Thesis Exhibitions
The 2026 undergraduate thesis season at Boston University celebrates the works of 40 graduating students across the Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) programs in Painting, Graphic Design, Printmaking, and Sculpture, and the Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Art program.
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts proudly presents the Class of 2026 Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) Thesis exhibitions, with the BFA Painting, Graphic Design, Printmaking, and Sculpture thesis show on view from Tuesday, April 28 through Saturday, May 9 at 808 Gallery and the BA in Art Capstone Symposium taking place on Monday, April 27 (the BA show was on view at Gallery 5 from Monday, April 13 through Saturday, April 18).
“Rooted in a willingness to experiment and an openness to vulnerability, this cohort demonstrates a commitment to pushing boundaries in both form and content,” says Marc Schepens, Director of BU School of Visual Arts and Senior Lecturer in Art, Painting. “Each work and artist asserts an individual perspective, and collectively they articulate a dynamic and thoughtful snapshot of a graduating class—one shaped not only by shared time and place, but by the broader conditions of their generation. The exhibition captures both the specificity of individual experience and the subtle, often unspoken connections that arise from moving through the world at the same moment in history.”
Curated by Allegra Davis, Curatorial Assistant at BU Art Galleries and MA Candidate, History of Art & Architecture, the BFA thesis exhibition invites viewers to consider how identities emerge from individual and collective embodiment, from social ties, from the accumulation of emotions and memories, and from everyday interactions with the world around us.
“The artists’ practices represented here offer diverse and distinctive approaches to medium, style, and thematic concerns, even as several unifying themes emerge,” says Davis. “These artists often push the boundaries of dimension, scale, and materiality, working across and among their chosen disciplines. They immerse viewers in new worlds of the body, mind, and environment. Throughout their journey of four years, these artists have challenged themselves and each other, dedicated themselves to the exploration of their discipline, and developed their own practices through intense personal growth. These works reflect each artist’s sustained investigation of how their vision might join the wider conversations and connections of their world.”
Throughout their journey of four years, these artists have challenged themselves and each other, dedicated themselves to the exploration of their discipline, and developed their own practices through intense personal growth. These works reflect each artist’s sustained investigation of how their vision might join the wider conversations and connections of their world.
BFA PAINTING, GRAPHIC DESIGN, PRINTMAKING, SCULPTURE
Tuesday, April 28 – Saturday, May 9, 2026
808 Gallery • 808 Commonwealth Avenue
Opening reception: Friday, May 1, 5 – 7pm
BFA Painting Exhibiting Students
Eleanor Bernard • Sarah Conley • Isabel Couceiro • Alexander Gibbs • Mackenzie Jutras • Christy Kim • Anya Nikulina • Truck Schachtman • Annie Shafran • Rachel Stern • Kalinda Tran
BFA Graphic Design Exhibiting Students
Tyler Best • Adrienne Chau • Tianxiao Chen • Allison Cho • Jacquelyn Henderson • Sofia Innamorato • Yuting Lin • Brian Liu • Janet Liu • Stephanie Lu • Zhongyunqi Meng • Anya Nikulina • Taylor Olson • August Oppenheimer • Lia Pires • Elizabeth Reichman • Megan Sharon • Napasorn Visuthiwat • Sawyer Yoh • Yingxuan Zhuang • Chaoran Zou
BFA Printmaking Exhibiting Students
Sarah Conley • Truck Schachtman • Kalinda Tran
BFA Sculpture Exhibiting Students
Nathan Dixon • Abbie Garretson • Zhixin Li
BA in Art Capstone Symposium
Monday, April 27, 2026, 6 – 8pm
Howard Thurman Center • 808 Commonwealth Avenue
The BA show was also on view at CFA’s Gallery 5 from Monday, April 13, through Saturday, April 18.
The 2026 BA in Art Capstone Symposium is the culmination of four years of artistic development and rigorous study.
Each of the five students from the BA in Art program will be presenting their final projects, integrating arts research with broad-based studio art training, highlighting how students have integrated art-making with diverse academic interests across the University.
Each project reflects a unique synthesis of research, critical inquiry, and creative practice. Their work initiates conversation about how art can intersect with fields like science, literature, technology, and social advocacy, underscoring the power of the visual arts as a tool for investigation and expression.
BA in Art Candidates
Milena Fernsler • Jacob Markarian • Liuzexin Ren • Kiara Rojas • Julia Wang
GALLERY HOURS
All thesis exhibitions and symposium are free and open to the public! 808 Gallery is open Tuesdays – Saturdays, 11am to 5pm.
Founded in 1839, Boston University is an internationally recognized institution of higher education and research. With more than 34,000 students, it is the fourth-largest independent university in the United States. BU consists of 17 schools and colleges, along with a number of multi-disciplinary centers and institutes integral to the University’s research and teaching mission. In 2012, BU joined the Association of American Universities (AAU), a consortium of 62 leading research universities in the United States and Canada. Learn more at bu.edu.
Established in 1954, Boston University College of Fine Arts (CFA) is a community of artist-scholars and scholar-artists who are passionate about the fine and performing arts, committed to diversity and inclusion, and determined to improve the lives of others through art. With programs in Music, Theatre, and Visual Arts, CFA prepares students for a meaningful creative life by developing their intellectual capacity to create art, shift perspective, and think broadly. CFA offers a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as a range of online degrees and certificates. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa.
Boston University College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts prepares students to think seriously, to see critically, to make intensely, and to act with creative agency in the contemporary world. The School of Visual Arts merges the intensive studio education of an art school with the opportunities of a large urban university, and is committed to educating the eye, hand, and mind of the artist. With rigorous graduate and undergraduate fine art programs that are rooted in studio practice, CFA School of Visual Arts provides highly motivated students with programs in the bedrock disciplines, of the fine arts coupled with a vast array of electives and liberal arts opportunities. Learn more at bu.edu/cfa/visual-arts