Bard MFA Class of 2026: Double Take

The Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College (Bard MFA) is pleased to present Double Take, the thesis exhibition for the class of 2026. The exhibition convened 22 MFA candidates in the disciplines of Moving Image, Music/Sound, Painting, Photography, Sculpture, and Writing. The majority hail from outside of New York, and many will be exhibiting in the region for the first time. For 25 years, Bard MFA has hosted the thesis exhibition at the Bard College Exhibition Center/UBS Gallery, a 16,000-square-foot facility dedicated to the presentation of student work. Double Take was the final exhibition of Bard MFA at the UBS Gallery.

Double Take was on view from July 12 through July 20 at the Bard College Exhibition Center/UBS Gallery in the village of Red Hook, New York, located at 29 O’Callaghan Lane. An opening reception was held at the gallery on Saturday, July 12, from 1–4pm; the exhibition was then open daily July 13–20, from 11am–5pm. Additionally, candidates in the Music/Sound and Writing disciplines presented an evening of performances on Friday, July 11, on Bard’s campus at Olin Hall, located at 35 Henderson Circle Drive, in Red Hook.

“The diverse practices of these 22 artists are unified by a careful deliberation of methods and materials, and an interest in slowing down the pace at which their work is consumed,” writes Mike R. Curran, the exhibition coordinator and a graduate student at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. “Double Take features objects and installations that reward a long look and a close listen. Spending time with meticulously composed canvases and photographs may conjure memories or evoke new visual worlds. Attuning to the silent stretches of a sound composition might open other sensory possibilities. Examining the materials at play may uncover conventional media—chalk, paper, twine—used in unexpected ways.”

“In a context where political, social, and ecological crises accelerate at a rapid speed, the demands placed on art to act as an antidote have become increasingly incoherent. Resisting these conditions, the works invite you to move through the exhibition with intention and invest in their provocations.”

Thesis Exhibition Coordinator Mike R. Curran is a curator and arts writer originally from Maine who lived in the Twin Cities for the past decade. He is now based in Kingston, New York, where he is a master’s candidate at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College.

Bard MFA Class of 2026
Juan Cisneros, Music/Sound; Antonio Darden, Sculpture; Caroline David, Sculpture; Quinha Faria, Painting; Talia Fox, Writing; Lizzy Gabay, Painting; Shem Goldman, Music/Sound; Bryce Hackford, Music/Sound; Zoe Hamersly, Music/Sound; Jeffrey Heiman, Painting; Rosa Maria de los Heros, Photography; Adrien Howard, Writing; Estefanía Landesmann, Photography; Alma Laprida, Music/Sound; David Lindsay, Writing; Jonas Monka, Sculpture; Frances Grace Mortel, Moving Image; Daisy Noyes, Photography; Martha Schnee, Painting; Cameron Sneddon, Writing; Maia Taber Ayerza, Painting; Maria VMier, Painting.