Student art featured in UAB 2024 BFA exhibition at AEIVA from April 2-27

Work by art students pursuing Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees at the University of Alabama at Birmingham will be featured in an exhibition April 2-27.

The 2024 BFA exhibition is presented by the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Art and Art History and the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts.

A free closing reception is set for 5-7 p.m. Friday, April 26. AEIVA is open noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Admission is free and open to the public. Visit uab.edu/aeiva for more information.

The Department of Art and Art History's Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program offers undergraduate art studio students an intensive exploration across a range of disciplines that prepares them to pursue careers as artists and designers, or continue their studies in graduate school. Students gain skills and competencies including team-based learning, technology, communication, aesthetic judgment, interdisciplinary and innovative approaches, critical analysis, and professional development throughout their program of study.

The BFA exhibition represents crossing the threshold into the professional environment for students who are often showing their work for the first time in the setting of a gallery or museum, says Rich Gere, professor and chair of the Department of Art and Art History.

"We are very fortunate and happy to collaborate with AEIVA's staff and curators, who afford students the same experience in preparing for and mounting the exhibition as the professional artists who come in from around the globe," Gere said. "Students write about their work and give oral presentations explaining their inspirations, research, processes and concepts. The BFA exhibition is the studio capstone experience and one of the spring's premier receptions in the area, and we hope to see you there."

Students whose work is featured in the 2024 BFA exhibition are Disney Bagwell of Huntsville, Alabama; Alexa Lee of Dothan, Alabama; Derriann Pharr, of Hamilton, Alabama; Thomas Rooney of Birmingham; Maddie Manston of Birmingham; Joshua Roh of Prattville, Alabama; Pelatiah "I$H" Morgan of Sipsey, Alabama; Sam Roberts of Birmingham; Abby Henderson of Gadsden, Alabama; Brother Jean Fish, Order of Saint Benedictine, of Poway, California; Brandon Beasley of Montgomery, Alabama; Cole Swarts of Prattville, Alabama; Rachel Doyle of Vestavia Hills, Alabama; Wes Ladner of Opp, Alabama; and Darien Malone of Birmingham.