Events

All events are free and open to the public.

Fall 2025 BFA Studio Arts Exhibition

November 14- December 2, 2025
Opening reception: Friday, November 14, 5-7pm

This show will be located off-campus at:
          Ugly Art Co.
          635 Madison Avenue
          Memphis TN 38103

For the past four years, the fall 2025 graduating class of the University of Memphis' Department of Arts and Design have critiqued and created together, culminating in a final show that exhibits an unapologetic authenticity and vulnerability. In Odds and Ends, these seniors explore how their quirks, eccentricities, and flaws have developed them into the artists they are today, pushing through hardship to new beginnings and possibilities. Showcasing a spectrum of mediums, each body of work speaks to an individual's experience with identity, growth, and self-discovery in a time where conformity threatens the right to self-expression. Through long studio nights, scrapped ideas, trial, error, and error again, this semester's senior thesis exhibition Odds and Ends is a celebration of triumph over obstacles and the pride in bringing a long and formative journey to an end.

Spring 2016 BFA Studio Arts Exhibition

IN FLUX, the spring 2016 BFA thesis exhibition, features works by nine graduating seniors of The University of Memphis Department of Art: Addie Ray, Cassandra Wery, Kayla Billings, Maggie McGrath, Malory Marlin, Mikeya Oliver, Ruben Garnica, Terrance Mason and Zi Felton. The exhibition is a compilation of works in a variety of mediums including painting, photography, sculpture, and installation art. The presentation celebrates the completion of undergraduate studies and the culmination of each student's artistic exploration and experiences. An opening reception will be held Friday, March 18th from 5-­8 PM in the galleries. The artists will also give a talk about their work in the Art and Communication Building, Room 310, on March 23rd at 7 PM. All events are free and open to the public.

MFA Thesis Exhibition

April 11–29, 2016

Opening Reception: Friday April 15, 5-8 PM

Graphic Design Senior Portfolio Exhibition

May 5, 2016

Reception: Thursday, May 5, 5-8 PM

"Three Decades of Making Stuff": Public Lecture by Michael Aurbach

Thursday, January 21, 2016
7 PM
Art and Communication Building, Room 310 (3715 Central Avenue; Memphis, TN)
Free and open to the public

Nashville-based artist-educator Michael Aurbach and exhibition judge will reflect on the past three decades of his career. Mr. Aurbach is best known for his socially inspired sculptures that addresses issues of identity, death, institutional power, and contemporary forms of scholarship. He has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards. Among the institutions and foundations that have provided support for his work are the National Endowment for the Arts, the Southern Arts Federation, the Tennessee Arts Commission, Art Matters Inc., the Puffin Foundation, the Beren Foundation, and Vanderbilt University. From 2002-04, he served as president of the College Art Association, the world's largest organization of visual arts professionals.
In December 2015, Aurbach retired as Professor of Fine Arts at Vanderbilt University, having taught sculpture and drawing since1986.

For more information, please visit the artist's website: aurbachsculpture.com

Virginia Overton

Virginia Overton was born in Nashville, Tennessee and lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She received her BFA and MFA from the University of Memphis. Recent solo exhibitions include White Cube, London (2015), Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami (2014), Westfälischer Kunstverein, Munster (2013-4), Kunsthalle Bern (2013), The Power Station, Dallas (2013) and Power House, Memphis (2007).

Overton's work comprises installation, sculpture and photography, often beginning intuitively as a direct response to her physical presence in a particular space. Through a process of trial and error, she creates sculpture that is performative, sometimes obstructing, bisecting, dividing or joining the architecture of a space with works that are dramatic and minimal in feel.

inveterate: toni collums roberts

November 23 – December 4, 2015
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art

The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art is pleased to present inveterate: toni collums roberts. For this MFA thesis exhibition, Collums Roberts has created a body work lacking the standards of today's visual culture. Spanning both gallery spaces with an installation-based performance involving 8,000 plaster cubes in one, and a video in the other, the exhibition is an attempt at creating a fertile place for boredom to be generated, questioned, or ignored. The combination of these elements creates a space for theories of art and philosophy to merge and morph, examining the possibility that technology's perpetuation of boredom is at the root of contemporary society's darkest fantasies.

Collums Roberts' performance will occur daily throughout the duration of the exhibition.

The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm, but will be closed November 25-29, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Bruce West Gallery Talk and Book Signing

Friday, November 6, 5-6:30 PM (galleries open until 8 PM)
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art
3715 Central Ave. Rooms 230 and 240

Missouri-based photographer Bruce West will speak about his work in the galleries and will be signing copies of his book The True Gospel Preached Here (2014, University Press of Mississippi) afterwards. Books will be available for purchase at the event and are currently on sale in The University of Memphis Bookstore.

Gallery talk and book signing will go from 5 to 6:30 PM. The galleries will remain open for reception until 8 PM. This event will also serve as a closing reception for the exhibitions "The True Gospel Preached Here: Photographs by Bruce West" and "Memphis Collects Contemporary Folk Art," on view at The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art from October 5 to November 6.

Two UofM Exhibitions Celebrate Contemporary Folk Art

Conversation with the Collectors
Thursday, Oct. 22, 5-7 pm
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art

Join collectors John Jerit, Rollin Riggs and Craig Wiener for a casual conversation moderated by Dr. Carol Crown in the galleries as they discuss their interest in folk art and their passion for collecting.

Bruce West Gallery Talk and Book Signing
Friday, Nov. 6, 5-8 pm
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art

Photographer Bruce West will speak about his work and will be signing copies of his book The True Gospel Preached Here (2014, University Press of Mississippi) afterwards. Books will be available for purchase. This event will also serve as a closing reception for both exhibitions.