BFA Thesis Exhibition: Preparation for your capstone BFA review threads throughout your entire senior year. You’ll develop a concept at the beginning of the year and have mid-year progress reviews before winter break. Finally, in BFA week at the end of the spring semester, you’ll display your thesis exhibition and present an hour-long defense of your mature body of creative work. Spring Show: This campus-wide student exhibition presents an unparalleled range of ideas, materials, and technologies to the University Circle community. The artwork is displayed at various Cleveland locations organized by Environments, or groups of majors: Foundation, Design, Craft + Material Culture, Integrated Media, and Visual Arts + Technologies. Best of all, many employers and collectors visit the spring show to see your work.
Studio Spaces: We give all students their very own studio space to customize. You’re free to fill it with whatever inspires you—posters, paint, tools, magazine cut-outs, t-shirts, stuffed animals, pictures of friends—or nothing at all. And each department proudly displays student work throughout its studio area. Community Partnerships: Many of our neighboring institutions partner with us to host student-run shows or shows that include your artwork or designs. For instance, three times a year, an art history graduate student from Case Western Reserve University curates an exhibit at the Cleveland Foundation featuring the work of CIA students. Our students’ artwork hangs in the Mandel Building on the CWRU campus. And the Progressive Art Collection, a surprisingly extensive contemporary art collection supported by the chairman of Progressive Insurance, offers internships to our students and often acquires their artwork.
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