Image by Anna Fleury

In the spring of 2020, as a global pandemic forced citizens across the world into physical isolation, the students, faculty, and staff at NYU Steinhardt’s Studio Art Program engaged in the extraordinary task of reimagining art making and education under these unprecedented circumstances. Within days, the Senior Class of 2020 took their practices from their personal studios and communal facilities in the East Village, to their bedrooms, kitchens, rooftops, backyards, basements, and two-week quarantine accommodations around the globe. Scattered, we strove to continue with the autonomous and collaborative work that marks the BFA Senior Year experience. This sudden break in time and space was not a breakdown in the work of these young artists, but a catalyst for art that is soulful, challenging, and relevant in new ways.

Each year, the BFA Senior Class self-organize into distinct groups, formed around collectively generated themes, research, and exhibition strategies. Guided by a group of dedicated faculty, they experiment and cultivate their practices, engage in sustained conversations and planning, study texts and exhibitions, and make space for themselves, and for one another.

The work that is included in the three distinct publications, website, and upcoming exhibition, address these artists’ ongoing interests as well as the unique historical circumstances we have experienced together. It is a testament to the rigor and resilience of a group of young artists, who have chosen to meet the world with vision and with grace.

Shadi Harouni

Asst. Professor of Studio Art
Director of Undergraduate Studies

BFA Class of 2020:

Maya Michele Beverly, AnnaLee Bui, Esther Cho, Michelle Choe, Juwon Choi, Sabrina Dong, Anna Fleury, Xuan Guan, Hae Won Han, Pin Hsun Hsieh, Wooseup Jeon, Chanel Khoury, Jessica Lee, Lizzy Lee, June Lee, Mika Sarina Lee, Samantha Marie Leonard, Monique Muse, Jenna Leigh Nimaroff, Hannah Park, Christine JiMin Park, Kaylee Kimani Reynolds, Alyx Runyon, Valerie Saputra, Min Jin Song, Martine Velasco, Chloe Kai Walecki, Andy Wang, Tina Zhou

Thanks to:

Senior Class Faculty and Department Chair, Jesse Bransford. Senior Studios Faculty and Coordinator, Priyanka Dasgupta. 2019-20 Senior Class Faculty, Afruz Amighi, Noel Anderson, Nancy Barton, Jonathan Berger, Howie Chen, Sue de Beer, Dana DeGuilio, Shadi Harouni, Maureen Gallace, Stamatina Gregory, Lyle Ashton Harris, Marlene McCarty, Kevin McCoy, Laurel Ptak, Gerald Pryor, Linda Sormin, Peter Rostovsky, Gabriela Salazar, Hiroshi Sunairi.

And special thanks to Sean Fuller, Camila Rodriguez Jimenez, and Jamie Sterns.