2025 Low Residency MFA Thesis Exhibition

SAIC Galleries
33 E. Washington Street, Chicago
Exhibition Dates: July 7 – July 27, 2025
Gallery Hours: Monday–Saturday, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 12, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Activations: Wednesday, July 16, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Performance: Low Res MFA Performance by Ryan Fazio
Saturday, July 12, 5:15 – 6:45 PM in the SAIC Ballroom at the MacLean Center, 112 S. Michigan Ave.

About the Program
The Low Residency MFA program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is a uniquely structured, multidisciplinary graduate program designed for working artists, writers, and educators. Over seven semesters, students engage in intensive six-week summer residencies in Chicago and work remotely during the fall and spring terms. This structure supports sustained independent inquiry while building a rigorous and deeply connected artistic community.

Under the visionary leadership of Director Aliza Shvarts—a renowned artist, writer, and scholar whose work critically examines reproduction, performance, and language in the digital age—the program has expanded its reputation for critical engagement, experimental practices, and social discourse. Shvarts' thoughtful curation of faculty and visiting artists fosters an inclusive, provocative environment where conceptual rigor and material experimentation thrive.

Curator: Denny Mwaura (Guest Curator)
Denny Mwaura is a Chicago-based curator and writer. He is the Assistant Director of Gallery 400 at the University of Illinois Chicago. His curatorial work includes The Mask of Prosperity, Earthly Visions: Inside the Climate Crisis, Gravity Pleasure Switchback, Young, Gifted and Black, and others across institutions including Gallery 400 and the Art Institute of Chicago. Mwaura holds an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art History from SAIC and received the Schiff Foundation Fellowship for Critical Architectural Writing.