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UPCOMING EXHIBITION

SUMMA 2025: Affirmations

Affirmations: When All Is Said and Done celebrates the final graduating cohort of McMaster’s School of the Arts, marking the culmination of their shared journey through uncertainty. The title reflects the process of creating without a predetermined outcome—where persistence became both a guiding force and a key affirmation, shaping their artistic practices and identities.

Entering university during a global health crisis, these artists turned to their work as an act of resistance—a means of grounding themselves and asserting their creative presence. The exhibition highlights the power of art and the graduating art students’ commitment to one another and to broader cultural change. As the last class of McMaster’s one-hundred- and eight-year-old studio art program, this exhibition reflects on both the legacy they inherit and the one they leave behind.

Honouring their professors and artistic traditions while pushing the boundaries of conventional artmaking, these students blend technique with intuition. Many works prioritize materiality, spontaneity and process over orthodox art frameworks.
Featuring works across painting, sculpture, textiles, drawing, photography, jewellery, film, and animation, the exhibition values process and experimentation over final outcomes. It celebrates the hands-on, labour-intensive nature of artmaking, moving beyond materials to reveal a deep sense of connection within the cohort.

This strong sense of community shines through in every artwork. United by mutual support, curiosity, and a shared drive to affirm and learn from one another, these artists express their collective spirit through assertion, declaration, and purposeful creation.

Opening Reception 
Thursday, April 3, 4-7PM


Artists: Alysha Aran, Elinor Brown, Audrey Ewen, Amber Forno, Leyda Glover, Ayesha Khan, Eugene Kim, Jenny Kim, Madeleine Lavrence, Gage Minard, Theodora Oyinloye, Gillian Reid, Chayse Victoria, Catherine Xu, Perry Yenika

SUMMA is the annual graduating exhibition for the McMaster University School of the Arts BFA.


Image: SUMMA 2025 logo, Produced in consultation with the full cohort.

Curated by: Christina Leslie

April 01, 2025 – April 25, 2025

VIEW ARCHIVE
Link to Exhibitions Archive for a complete list of past exhibitions

PAST EXHIBITIONS

A series of small ceramics and pottery arranged neatly in rows on a 6-stepped white platform.

Sameer Farooq: The Fairest Order in the World

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A blurred person walks in front of a wall featuring the photographic series Grace (2006). The artworks on display are photos of figures with hands covering their faces. Installation view of I'm Not Your Kinda Princess at Plug In ICA.

Lori Blondeau: I’m Not Your Kinda Princess

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A photo of The Clichettes dressed as muscular men with wild hair, they are jumping mid-air holding colourful guitars.

The Clichettes: Lips, Wigs, and Politics

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Faded title

SUMMA 2024: Yearbook

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Detail of Rajni Perera, Storm, 2020.

Rajni Perera: Futures

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A collaged and layered photograph of the Grand River floats in the centre of a black background, along with the words: Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s Image courtesy of Courtney Skye. The list of artists is displayed along the bottom: Dakota Brant, Denny Doolittle, Elizabeth Doxtater, Kaya Hill, Rick Hill, Arnold Jacobs, Ken Maracle, Shelley Niro, Protect The Tract Artist Collective, Steve Smith, Greg Staats, Kristen E. Summers, Jeff Thomas

We Remain Certain
Arenhátyen tsi ní:tsi teyottenyonhátye’ kwató:ken tsi nī:tsi yonkwa’nikonhrayén:ta’s

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Two artworks suspended in a grey background; Nicholas Baier's Octobre, and Shelley Niro's Nature's Wild Children.

Chasm

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Artist Mike MacDonald in Gage Park, photo captured by Dianne Bos.

Lisa Myers: Finding what Grows

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SUBMISSIONS & ASSISTANCE

SUBMISSIONS:

The McMaster Museum of Art is presently not accepting artists’ submissions for exhibitions at this time of leadership change at the museum.  Our Interim Director will be undertaking a review of the museum’s forward exhibition schedule, as well as our policies and procedures, in the coming months.  Our present focus is the ongoing maintenance of our permanent collection and storage needs for future collection activities.

The museum remains committed to our collecting priority in the continued support of early career, mid-career and established Indigenous artists, artists of the Black diaspora and racialized artists through purchases and commissions. Donations will be welcomed and reviewed at a future date which will be posted on our website.

ASSISTANCE:

The McMaster Museum of Art is a third party recommender for Ontario Arts Council (OAC) Exhibition Assistance Grants.

The museum is currently accepting applications. Our next program deadline is: December 16, 2024.

Priorities:
Artists who demonstrate an interest and consideration of art as a medium for social change and action.

Please follow the guidelines established by the Ontario Arts Council, apply directly through their website, and submit the following with your applications:

Brief artist statement
Confirmation letter from the gallery/museum/venue
Budget
CV
Digital images of work