School of Visual Arts (SVA) presents “Making the Way,” a juried exhibition of multidisciplinary works by SVA students and recent alumni. Organized by SVA Galleries, the exhibition will be on view online from Tuesday, September 8, through Monday, September 28, at galleries.sva.edu.

During the ongoing pandemic, many Americans have adopted social distancing and isolation practices to combat the contagion. “Making the Way” features artists seeking lines of communication between outer landscapes and interior worlds. They find healing through art by observation and response. Exhibited works range from a film addressing the idea of self-acceptance through an animated dream journey, to a series of photographs capturing the effects of COVID-19 on hometown surroundings. A collection of drawings made to cheer up a friend experiencing a mental breakdown contrasts with abstract representations of loss and resilience. These works locate themselves within the present while preserving hope for the future. “Making the Way” is not about looking for an exit, but instead making a way forward from the shared experiences of loneliness and uncertainty.

Artists featured in this exhibition are current students Zoé Bergeron (BFA Photography and Video), Xinyi Liu (MFA Fine Arts), Ariel Miner (BFA Illustration), Jake Thompson (BFA Photography and Video) and Jingxin Xu (BFA Design), and recent alumni Jiatong Han (MFA 2020 Computer Arts), Kangmin Lim (MFA 2020 Computer Arts), Simone Riccardi (BFA 2020 Illustration) and Yalan Wen (MFA 2020 Computer Arts).

Juried exhibitions are a way for SVA students to recognize the achievements of their most distinguished classmates. Artists are selected from a large pool of applicants to the annual SVA Galleries call for entries, whose submissions undergo a rigorous examination of presented materials, including documentation of work and artist statements.