After four years of hard work and dedication, Bachelor of Fine Arts students in visual arts are putting on their BFA shows, their final art shows as undergraduates. Tulane’s Studio Arts BFA program is a small, intimate environment, with seven students specializing in visual arts. The program is intense — Woldenberg Art Center is a  “home away from home,” Murell Levine, a BFA student specializing in oil painting, said.

“I adore it, art is my one true love; but I don’t think a lot of people outside of the department have any idea how hard we work,” Levine said. Although the process is difficult, she’s grateful for the experience. “I can’t say I’m where I want to be yet, but I get closer every year and I think that’s a huge compliment to my professors.”

Leo Fine, a BFA student specializing in glassblowing, has also experienced the intensity of the program. “It’s been extremely rewarding; it’s been extremely stressful … the BFA program in itself is sort of not like a casual program at all,” Fine said. “In my opinion, being a BFA sort of means that you’re constantly pushing yourself to work harder and everything you make you want it to be at least as good as the last thing you made.”

The students are involved in all steps of the process, from creating the art to physically hanging it up on the walls of the Carroll Gallery. The Carroll Gallery was used as a classroom during the school year to allow for social distancing, but Laura Richens, curator of the Carroll Gallery, is glad the gallery is being used for the BFA shows. “It’s nice to have artwork in this space again,” Richens said. 

“They have been working for at least a year, a year and a half, on these bodies of work, critiquing them with their committee members, making decisions about presentation, writing artist statements, just editing and refining their work,” Richens said.

“In terms of putting on my show, it’s been a really interesting experience, because I’ve honestly had to get my [stuff] together a bit and learn how to better manage my time,” Fine said. “This show is sort of summing up my career in college.”

The shows will take place in the Carroll Gallery, located on the second floor of the Woldenberg Art Center. The first exhibition, featuring Elana Bush, Jimena Padilla and Elinor Sachs, will be available for viewing from April 15-23. The second exhibition, featuring Allison Donze, Leo Fine, Murell Levine and Abby McDade, will be open from April 29-May 7. BFA shows are open to members of the Tulane community. The Carroll Gallery will also be hosting the bachelor of arts exhibition, running from May 13-21 and including the work of Megan Caruso, Shannon Cruz, Emma Fein, Ru Fine, Nicole Free, Abigail Greenbaum, Abigail Herman, Sophie Lieber and Jason Lynnn-Framm.