Exhibition opens April 10 at the Georgia Museum of Art 

For the first time, Master of Fine Arts degree candidates in the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art are taking their exit show on the road. Partnerships in Atlanta and New York City are giving the students the opportunity to gain exposure among the nation's top arts scenes.

Exhibitions featuring work by graduating students will be on view April 11 to May 3 at the Georgia Museum of Art and April 6 through April 30 at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center, with an opening reception April 22. Work representing all 19 students and selected from the two exhibitions will then be shown at Rogue Space Chelsea in New York from May 26 to June 4, with an opening reception on May 28.

An opening reception for the Georgia Museum exhibition will be held April 10 from 6-9 p.m. in conjunction with the museum's quarterly event, 90 Carlton: Spring. The museum also will host "MFA Speaks," a panel discussion with the students about their work, on April 23 at 5:30 p.m.

"This year's graduating class has created varied and exceptional work. In my first year as director, I am proud to be a small part our first MFA class to exhibit in New York, Athens and Atlanta as a culmination of their studies," said Chris Garvin, professor and director of the school of art. "We are excited that these graduating students will renew a great Dodd tradition of exporting Georgia art to the rest of the world while starting a new legacy for future classes to embrace."

The 2015 MFA candidates and their disciplines are:
• Patrick Brien, drawing and painting
• Joseph Camoosa, drawing and painting
• Winnie Gier, photography
• Andrew Indelicato, drawing and painting
• Allan Innman, drawing and painting
• Mark Johnson, ceramics
• Mahera Khaleque, drawing and painting
• Anna Gay Leavitt, photography
• Tyler Leslie, printmaking
• Cameron Lyden, jewelry metals
• Jessica Machacek, printmaking
• Louisa Powell, sculpture
• Georgia Rhodes, photography
• Phillip Scarpone, sculpture
• Lillian Smith, jewelry metals
• Andrew Soper, interior design
• Zipporah Thompson, fabric design
• Lucas Underwood, photography
• Bo Wang, interior design

The MFA candidates developed two groups of work for the exhibitions that will run concurrently at the Georgia Museum and the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. The New York exhibition will be selected from the two shows by Garvin; Mary Hallam Pearse, an assistant professor and graduate coordinator; and Katie Geha, director of the Dodd galleries.

An exhibition catalog will serve as a record of the show and will include images representing each student, essays by master's and doctoral art history students on the work conducted by their classmates in the studio art program, an essay by Daniel Fuller from the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center and a foreword from Garvin.

"This particular group of students has worked tirelessly in close proximity, with a wide focus, for three years, and the work you will see conveys the vitality of each student's individual visual voice," said Pearse, area chair of jewelry and metals in the art school. "With not one but three exhibitions, this show marks a conclusion and debut at once, and I'm confident this group will make waves for years to come."

AUTHORED BY: ALAN FLURRY