Written by Kay Heino & Photography by Eric Butler

The Suzy Greenberg MFA juried Exhibition honors SooVAC’s Founder Suzy Greenberg, an MCAD MFA alum. In this year’s exhibition, SooVAC was able to host MFA students from both the University of Minnesota and MCAD. The MCAD representattives were  MAC ‘23 Anda Tanaka ‘22,  David Ruhlman ’20 and Jocelyn Suzuka Figueroa ’21. The UMN representatives included Olivia Gallenberger, Cody Hilleboe, and Prerna.

The juror of this exhibition was Nicole Soukup, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and Coordinator of the Minnesota Exhibition Program at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Statement about the Exhibition from Juror Nicole Soukup:

The artworks in “The Suzy Greenberg MFA Juried Exhibition” share a particular aesthetic—one that relishes in the details. The delight of clay. The tactility of painting. The acts of transformation. These works are as varied as the artists that created them. Yet all were made during the absurdity of the past two years. 

A Master’s of Fine Arts degree is built upon the unique social constructs of studio practice. Your work is hyper-scrutinized and over-theorized in front of you for years at a time. Afterward, you are unceremoniously sent off into the world alone. This exhibition provides a glimpse of what can remain when the social foundations are confined to virtual platforms.

As a curator and scholar of contemporary art, I cannot think of a more appropriate grouping to honor Suzy Greenberg’s legacy and, simultaneously, capture the oddity of being in a studio-based program throughout the pandemic. Suzy was a steadfast advocate for emerging artists—those who are finding their footing in an unstable world.