Announcement
The exhibition in Medford, Massachusetts, will be open from May 5 to 17, showcasing the graduating class’s exploration of diverse worlds.
Jemma Byun, “Self-Portrait” (2026), oil on canvas, 38 x 51 inches
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (SMFA at Tufts) invites you to the 2026 MFA class’s final showcase. From May 5 to 17, 2026, the Tufts University Art Galleries in Medford will host “Passages,” featuring thesis projects by nineteen MFA candidates. This exhibition highlights the diverse practices and growth of the students within the MFA program, with its title reflecting each student’s personal and artistic journey, serving as a central theme for the displayed works.
The concept of a passage can symbolize exploration, a narrow route, or the inevitable passage of time. The artists delve into these themes through various media, demonstrating their introspective and outward-looking abilities, and addressing topics from the microscopic to the geopolitical.
Throughout the galleries, the notion of safe passage and the right to navigate and inhabit spaces is a recurring theme. Artists incorporate found visa documents into assemblages, explore new personas through portraiture, build clay cityscapes to confront fears, and place imported, discarded items in thought-provoking settings.
Animals also play a significant role in the artworks, each carrying symbolic meaning: a bunny in a horned cage, goldfish scattered in a dreamlike environment, black birds symbolizing the four corners of the Inca Empire, a school of koi with an expectant gaze, and the mythical dog-headed cynocephalus.
Books act as passages to imagined and visited worlds. Themes explored through these bound objects include a couple dealing with transition and separation, a man’s quest for a long-lost friend, and the poetic nature of forgotten and remembered spaces.
Collectively, these creations express a shared spirit of adventure and boldness, inviting viewers to explore new realms within themselves, their social environments, or in worlds they create.
For further information, please visit smfa.tufts.edu.
