News, April 14, 2026
Events
Art History Showcase
Join us for the reception: Tuesday, April 14, 4:30-5:30pm, VAC 1st Floor Lobby
Spring 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition: Group 2
Opening Reception: Friday, April 17, from 4-6 PM
Exhibition dates: April 18-May 2, 2026
Featured artists: Ethan Cherry, Brionna Garcia, Cal Young
CU Art Museum, Visual Arts Complex
Museum hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM-4 PM
Image: Brionna Garcia
MFA Thesis Film Screening
On Friday, April 17, following the CU Art Museum exhibition opening, Cal Young and Mahda Purmehdi will host a screening in the Solomon Screening Room (ATLAS 102) at 6:15 PM. Purmehdi's thesis film and the single‑channel version of Cal's thesis project will screen in a roughly 90‑minute program, followed by an informal conversation and Q&A.
Art & Environments Field School
CU degree students may simply search for ARTS 4444/5444 and register online via the Buff portal. Make sure you are searching “Boulder Continuing Education”
EMAIL Jean.Goldstein@Colorado.edu or richard.saxton@colorado.edu if you have issues or need a permission code to register. This course gives priority to Art and Art History majors but is open to all majors. The Field School is also open to students from universities other than CU-Boulder.
Barbara Madsen: Visiting Artist Lecture Series
Monday, April 20th at 4:00 PM
Visual Arts Complex Auditorium (lower-level 1B20)
Barbara Madsen is an artist and Professor at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. Madsen’s practice is at the intersection of sculpture, prints, painting, ready-mades, and photography. Her vast collections of industrial matter -- spark plugs, machine parts, welding masks, light switches, rubber, plastic, prosthetics, artificial eyes, toys and much more – serve as the stimulus for the work. Her work is riddled with skeptical questions about society, civilization and collapse. Who is the Guardian and who is the Barbarian? Who enters the gate and who’s banned? She aims to lift the lid off canonical hierarchical art forms and queer space. Her work is an ever-evolving quest that picks out and unravels a new thread about greed and power to see how far she can push farcical realities from the primitive to the futuristic. Her explosive use of color is in the service of creating awkward, ridiculously sublime sculptures-works and installations that seem to infect, corrupt, and devour the universe. Yet, seeks joy and sustenance to find balance in an absurd world.
She has had solo exhitions the Blanc Gallery in NYC; Qi Fengge Musuem of Print History, Shenzen, China; MGalleries, NJ; New York Public Library, NYC; Scuola de Grafica, Venice, Italy; Sykes Gallery, PA; Lowry Lab Theater, MN; Palacky University, Czech Republic; Graphics Collective Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia; Recitation Gallery, DE; Pratt Studios Gallery, Brooklyn; Benedicta Art Center, MN; Sommers Gallery, MN; Minneapolis College of Art and Design, MN; and Tyler School of Art, PA, among others. Madsen has been included over 100 group exhibitions.
Black Queer Aesthetics: A Symposium
Art History Club
Please join the Art History Club for an End-of-Semester Social! Stop by for cupcakes, art history themed activities, conversation, and festivity. We hope to see you there!
Date: Thursday, April 23
Time: 2:00-4:00pm
Place: VAC 303
Questions? Please contact Christine Bachman: christine.bachman@colorado.edu
Image: Wayne Thiebaud, Neapolitan Cupcake, 2009. Oil on cradled hardboard, 10 7/8 x 12 7/8 inches. Art © Estate of Wayne Thiebaud / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
second nature. bfa exhibit
EXHIBITION APRIL 25- MAY 3, 2026
OPENING APRIL 24th from 4-6 PM
Visual Arts Complex
Featured artists:
LAUREN BECKER
DELANEY BRADY
TREVOR COAST
ZSATIRA DIAMOND
LUISA FERNANDA
NATALIE HAUGAN
TYLYN KING
GEORGIA MONTALVO
AINSLEY PITCHER
MARTHA QUIRIE
MAX ROBERTS
JANEMELYN STRODE
POLLY TORIAN
