Exhibition Schedule

Spring 2025

Radical Jewelry Makeover Project
January 27 – February 21 | First Friday Art Walk: February 7, 6-9 PM

Radical Jewelry Makeover (RJM) is Ethical Metalsmiths' innovative community mining project. It raises awareness of the connection between mining, metalsmithing, activism, collaboration and art. It involves volunteer "miners," "smelters," "refiners," jewelers, and metalsmiths working together to create a new and transparent supply chain. The project is both performance and event, linking recycling, reuse and collaborative work sessions with the creation of unique, innovative, handmade jewelry, concluding with an exhibition and reception. The project was designed and developed by Christina Miller and Susie Ganch and is now directed by Susie Ganch and Kathleen Kennedy.

Annual Juried Student Exhibition
March 7 – April 4 | First Friday Art Walk: March 7 and April 4, 6-9 PM

The Annual Juried Student Exhibition features work from the breadth of our department’s undergraduate and graduate students. Juried by St. Louis-based artist, Sage Dawson, we are also excited continue the legacy of Mark J Hall with the Mark J Hall Best in Show Award, in addition to many other monetary awards.

BFA in Design: The Professional Design Practicum
April 28 – May 9 | First Friday Art Walk: May 2, 6-9 PM

Every semester, the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center is pleased to host an exhibition of work by graduating students from the Department of Art and Design. The spring exhibition showcases the talent and skill of students who have spent years developing a design practice that will carry them into their professional careers.

Summer 2025

MFA Thesis Exhibit, a Springfield Art Museum collaboration
May 27 – June 6 | First Friday Art Walk: June 6, 6-8pm

Let me tell you a story
Gathering our roots to find belonging
July 7 – August 1 | First Friday Art Walk: August 1, 6-8pm

Fall 2025

Gimme More: The Eras of American Consumption
September 2 – October 3 | First Friday Art Walk: September 5 & October 3, 6-9pm

As a species, we have always been consumers of the materials/supplies we need to survive. Up until the Industrial Revolution, we broadly approached our consumption with need-based frugality. But as the 19th century dawned, our relationship with our accoutrements drastically changed as society shifted toward a consumerist culture. Today, we consume more than ever before; from 2016-2021 we globally consumed 75% of what we did for the entire 20th century. We no longer consume what we need; we take what we covet, and then some. The evolution of our collective consumption illustrates our insatiable hunger for more. What will our next era of consumption be?

Transitions/Translation
October 20 – November 7 | First Friday Art Walk: November 7, 6-9pm

Transitions/Translation is an international juried graphic design poster exhibition featuring graphic design posters and designed expressions that are not afraid to challenge the medium of poster design through interpretations of ‘transitions or translations. Designed works in the exhibit explore sub themes within the broader context:
Transitions
— of techniques
— of mediums
— of movements
Translations
— of interpretations
— of languages
— of expressions

BFA in Design: The Professional Design Practicum
December 1 – 12 | First Friday Art Walk: December 5, 6-9pm

Spring 2026

Makeshift Ruminations: Work from Forty Years in Ceramic Art by Keith Ekstam
January 20 – February 20 | First Friday Art Walk: February 6, 6-9pm

Annual Juried Student Exhibition
March 6 – April 10 | First Friday Art Walk: March 6, 6-9pm

BFA in Design: The Professional Design Practicum
April 27 – May 8 | First Friday Art Walk: May 1, 6-9pm

Carolla Arts Exhibition Center receptions

Opening receptions at the Carolla Arts Exhibition Center are scheduled in conjunction with the Downtown Gallery Association's First Friday Art Walk.

Admission is free and open to all.