The Only Way Out Is Through: The 2025 IMDA MFA Thesis Exhibition

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 19:49:31 -0400
arts, cadvc, culture, design, exhibition, gallery, imda, mfa, rtkl, thesis, visual

UMBC’s INTERMEDIA AND DIGITAL ARTS (IMDA) Masters Program presents “The Only Way Out Is Through,” the 2025 IMDA MFA Thesis Exhibition.

Artists' Reception

Please join us at the CADVC gallery for a public reception with the artists on Thursday, March 27th, 5-7 pm. The thesis exhibition features five artists with diverse artistic practices and approaches: McCoy Chance, Ahlam Khamis, Ghazal Mojtahedi, Alexi Scheiber, and Mariia Usova.

Since the inception of the IMDA MFA Program at UMBC in 1992, the exhibition is presented each spring semester. Past exhibitions have included installation, performance, film, video, photography, animation, interactive art, sculpture, audio works, painting, drawing, and print media.

Please mark your calendar for these additional events associated with the exhibition and note that some programs occur *after* the close of the exhibition.

RTKL Lecture: Alexi Scheiber
April 15, 12:30-1:30 pm

The gallery will remain open until 5 pm following the lecture.

The CADVC gallery is also the site of the annual “RTKL Lecture,” a fellowship lecture made possible through the generosity of RTKL (Rogers Taliaferro, Kostritsky, & Lamb) Associates Incorporated. The goal of this merit-based award is to support an emerging artist of creative and scholarly excellence who has demonstrated a promise to make an impact on the field. This year’s recipient of the RTKL fellowship is Alexi Scheiber.

Audience members are respectfully requested to wear a mask during this event, so the speaker may remove her mask for optimal audibility and communication. CADVC realizes masking is a personal decision and ultimately lies with each individual.

Live Improvised Musical Performance
April 4, 1-1:30 pm

As part of “The Dead, The Living, and The Injured,” musicians Patrick Crossland, Ida Dierker, Brandon, Gouin, Jeremy Keaton, and Josh Weber join McCoy Chance for a collaborative performance exploring the lifespan of discarded electronics. They will engage with the screens and media works in the exhibition through live improvisation. The performance begins promptly at 1:00 pm on Friday, April 4, 2025, and will conclude in the Fine Arts Amphitheater immediately outside the gallery,—rain or shine—by 1:30 PM. The gallery remains open to the public from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.

For more information and the full list of associated events, including MFA thesis defense times and additional hours of operation, please visit our website at cadvc.umbc.edu/mfa-2025.

Images: From the top “Conflux: Variation” video still, 2025, Shannon Collis & Liz Donadio, courtesy of the artists.(Description of audio, authored by the artists: a deeply resonant audio landscape builds momentum, merging field recordings of industrial machinery, trains, water, and wind with digital and analog synthesis. Layered low-frequency tones shift between foreground and background, aligning with the visuals. The soundscape evokes the essence of the visited sites and the interplay of natural and industrial elements.)

Alexi Scheiber, “Artifacts from the Dreaming World – Tailoring & Fibers Workshop” (detail), 2024, Gouache on black paper, photo: courtesy of the artist (A navy blue building with stars painted on the facade. Sewing projects are demonstrated in the warm light of the window. A tulip wind turbine is installed on the green roof, the yard is dominated by daisies, and yellow passionflowers climb the front porch.)

Highly abstracted and layered images include several glowing blue TV monitors. On the left is a window looking out to an urban skyline silhouetted against a blue sky. Wires scatter across the hardwood floor in the foreground, and translucent figures of seated musicians are superimposed upon the middle of the interior studio space.

Visitor Information

Our exhibitions and events are free and open to the public for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University’s nondiscrimination policy.

If you need specific accommodations at one of our events, whether in person or online, or to experience an exhibition, please contact CADVC at cadvc@umbc.edu or 410-455-3188 as soon as possible.

About the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture (CADVC)

CADVC is a College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences research center and art gallery that produces scholarship, publications, and experimental engagements in the fields of art, design, and visual culture.

The CADVC is located on the first floor of UMBC’s Fine Arts Building. Admission to the gallery and public programs is free. Daytime metered parking is available in several nearby visitor parking areas. Please visit here for additional information.

Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture, UMBC
1000 Hilltop Circle, Fine Arts Building 105, Baltimore, MD 21250

Gallery Hours:

Sun-Mon, closed

Tues-Wed, 12-5 pm

Thurs-Sat, 10-5 pm