NAGAS at the Nash

Image by
Laura Swanson from the Rhode Island School of Design

The Katherine E. Nash Gallery is pleased to host NAGAS, the North American Graduate Art Survey, a juried international exhibition of North American graduate student artwork. The exhibition opens January 20 and runs through February 19, 2009. A public reception has been scheduled for Friday, January 23 from 6-8:30 pm. All events at the Nash are free and open to the general public.

Gallery Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm

The Regis Center for Art is located at 405 21st Avenue South on the west bank campus of the University of Minnesota. Parking is available in the 21st Avenue Ramp.

NAGAS was open to all media, and to all current Master if Fine Arts candidates in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Organized by graduate students featuring work by graduate students, NAGAS explores a diverse range of styles and points of view, representing the different cultures and backgrounds of emerging artists throughout North America. It seeks to promote awareness of artwork being produced in graduate programs throughout the continent while offering a unique opportunity for the Minnesota community to access art from outside the immediate area.

NAGAS received over 250 entries. Artists from 21 States and the University of Alberta-Edmonton, Canada are represented in NAGAS. It was a challenge for juror Christopher Atkins to select the work. It was a pleasure for Atkins to see the diversity of work currently coming out of graduate programs throughout North America.

NAGAS juror Christopher Atkins is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Art at Macalester College, St. Paul, MN. In addition to teaching, his interest in visual cultures inform his exhibition reviews, essays and large-scale research projects. He received his MFA and MRes degrees from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

University of Minnesota graduate students Lauren Herzak-Bauman, Anna Metcalfe, Mason Eubanks and Stacey Holloway organized the exhibition, overseeing the many details involved in bringing it to fruition. This is the second NAGAS exhibition presented at the Nash. The first was held in the summer of 2007. The success of these exhibitions has made them a biennial event at the Nash.

NAGAS is sponsored by the Department of Art and a University of Minnesota Student Activities Initiative Grant.