Department of Art Events

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Utilizing the visual language of color calibration charts and contemporary stock photography, this image collage offers the viewer an amalgamation of references that could at first appear to be celebratory. Mashed together are depictions of beauty regiments, skin tone makeup charts, piles of foods and ethnic spices, sumptuous desserts, tropical vacation landscapes, pastoral farmlands, and community building moments of togetherness. On closer inspection, the frictions and ironies begin to surface, suggesting an anxious shift in contemporary politics masked by upbeat advertising language and colorful veneer.

Long interested in how visual displays can camouflage more complex realities, Syjuco purchased the majority of these images from commercial stock photography sites, juxtaposing them in a way that teases out conflicting meanings. Included is one large image she staged in her studio, as well as multiple color calibration charts that are meant to check for “correct color” — a fraught metaphor for our times.

Stephanie Syjuco works in photography, sculpture, and installation, moving from handmade and craft-inspired mediums to digital editing and archive excavations. Recently, she has focused on how photography and image-based processes are implicated in the construction of exclusionary narratives of history and citizenship. Born in the Philippines in 1974, she is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship Award, a Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Award and a Tiffany Foundation Award. Her work is in numerous collections, including at The Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum, The Getty Museum, SFMOMA, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, among others. She was a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellow at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC in 2019–20 and is featured in the acclaimed PBS documentary series Art21: Art in the Twenty-First Century. She is a Professor in Sculpture at the University of California, Berkeley and lives in Oakland, California.

A BFA Thesis show by 

Mira Ciccarello

Sophia Newton

Hannah Oldham

Chase Reeder

New work by Britta Anderson.

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*Note: UO ID card with building access is required to gain entry to Washburn Gallery.*

The University of Oregon Department of Art's MFA Degree Show culminates three years of independent research and experimentation by a cohort of four artists whose various practices engage in a broad range of inquiry. This year, the MFA exhibition returns to Ditch Projects, celebrating the MFA graduates’ efforts in the professional standard of a highly regarded artist run space and gallery. The 2026 cohort is Yalda Eskandari, Elri Friedman, Afsaneh Javadpour, and Maryam Keshmiri. The four artists showcased in this exhibition represent a diverse range of media and practices, spanning sculpture, installation, photography, painting, and collage.

Artists: Yalda Eskandari Elri Friedman  Afsaneh Javadpour Maryam Keshmiri

On View: May 8-24, 2026

Opening Reception: Friday, May 8, 5:00- 8:00 p.m.

Gallery Hours: Saturdays & Sundays from noon- 4:00 p.m. and by appointment

Location: Ditch Projects, 303 S 5th St #165, Springfield, OR 97477

The Dawn is Too Far shares the untold stories of eight Iranian Americans in the San Francisco Bay Area and shares the longer arc of history (beyond the 1979 revolution) that recounts events both in Iran and the US. The film features aspects of the Bay Area Iranian diaspora community and the way their lives and work were influenced by this region of California, but how they have contributed and helped shape it as well. The film offers a poetic and complex narrative that undermines the barrage of negative headlines that dominate our news media and features rare archival footage. 

Persis Karim is the former director of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University where she also taught in the Department of Humanities and Comparative and World Literature. She is the editor of three anthologies of Iranian diaspora literature, and has published numerous articles about Iranian diaspora literature and culture for academic journals, as well as poetry and essays in non-academic publications. The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life is her first film and reflects her interest in documenting and sharing the larger history and personal stories of those who are part of the global Iranian diaspora.

Made possible by the Department of Anthropology, SSWANA, and the Department of Art’s Center for Art Research.

University of Oregon 2025-26 Visiting Artist Lecture Series Presented by the Department of Art and Center for Art Research

“This presentation introduces my studio practice, which is situated at the intersection of weaving and animation. I create woven textiles on a jacquard loom and translate these fabrics into time-based works, approaching the loom as a camera and editing tool. By working with sequential woven images and material processes, my work explores how textiles can generate motion and shape the moving image. I will discuss recent projects that move between handwoven cloth and animation, as well as the technical and conceptual questions that arise when textiles are used as a time-based medium. The talk will also touch on the overlapping histories of weaving and cinema, and how textile processes offer alternative ways of thinking about moving images, narrative, and authorship.”- Kate Nartker, 2026 

Kate Nartker works between animation and weaving to dismantle images, narratives, and material structures. She received an MFA from the California College of the Arts and is an Assistant Professor of Textile Design at the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State University. Her work has been included in exhibitions and screenings throughout the United States and internationally, including The Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, The Contemporary Austin, and the Hordaland Art Center in Bergen, Norway.

Filmlandia Screening Series presents: Street Girls (1975). Free and open to the public.

Directed by Michael Miller | 74 min | Rated R

Synopsis: When a middle-aged father searches for his dropout daughter Angel, his quest takes him into the underworld of prostitutes, pimps, drug addicts, and thieves.

The Department of Cinema Studies and the University Film Society celebrate Oregon’s rich film heritage with a new screening series showcasing movies with a unique Oregon connection—from locally shot features to stories written or directed by Oregon filmmakers. Discover Oregon’s reel legacy on the big screen while connecting with the university film community.

Cosponsored by:  Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment; Department of Art; Department of Comparative Literature; Department of English; Department of History; Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies; Native American and Indigenous Studies; Folklore and Public Culture Program; School of Journalism and Communication; Art House Theater; DUX Present; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art; Julie and Rocky Dixon Chair of U.S. Western History; and Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities

Filmlandia Screening Series presents: Sometimes a Great Notion (1971).

*Free with UO ID

Directed by Paul Newman | 114 min | Rated PG

Synopsis: A family of fiercely independent Oregon loggers struggles to keep their family business alive amid changing times.

The Department of Cinema Studies and the University Film Society celebrate Oregon’s rich film heritage with a new screening series showcasing movies with a unique Oregon connection—from locally shot features to stories written or directed by Oregon filmmakers. Discover Oregon’s reel legacy on the big screen while connecting with the university film community.

Cosponsored by:  Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment; Department of Art; Department of Comparative Literature; Department of English; Department of History; Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies; Native American and Indigenous Studies; Folklore and Public Culture Program; School of Journalism and Communication; Art House Theater; DUX Present; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art; Julie and Rocky Dixon Chair of U.S. Western History; and Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities

University of Oregon 2025-26 Visiting Artist Lecture Series Presented by the Department of Art and Center for Art Research

Allan Wexler’s work mediates the gap between fine and applied art using the mediums of architecture, sculpture, photography, painting, and drawing. Wexler’s work is sometimes functional, sometimes theoretical, and often performative. In all cases, it demonstrates a commitment to reevaluating basic assumptions about the human relationship to the built and natural environments.

In the late 1960s Allan Wexler was an early member of the group of architects and artists who questioned the perceived divide between art and the design disciplines. They called themselves non-architects or paper architects. The subject of Wexler's work is the built environment. He creates drawings, multimedia objects, images, and installations that alter perceptions of domestic activities. Wexler is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (2016), is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and a winner of both a Chrysler Award for Design Innovation and the Henry J. Leir Prize from the Jewish Museum. Wexler currently teaches at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He is represented by the Jane Lombard Gallery in New York City where he had a solo exhibition from January through March of 2025.

Made possible by the Department of Art, the Department of Product Design, and the Bob James Ceramics Fund.

Filmlandia Screening Series presents: Ed's Coed (1929) with a live musical accompaniment by Orchestra Next. Free and open to the public.

Directed by Carvel Nelson and James Raley | 74 min

Synopsis: Ed’s father wished for him to attend college, but he’s reluctant to leave the family sawmill until he sees his cousin with a pretty co-ed. The sophomores have hazing on their mind when country boy Ed matriculates, but he won’t be deterred.

The movie was filmed on the UO campus.

The Department of Cinema Studies and the University Film Society celebrate Oregon’s rich film heritage with a new screening series showcasing movies with a unique Oregon connection—from locally shot features to stories written or directed by Oregon filmmakers. Discover Oregon’s reel legacy on the big screen while connecting with the university film community.

Cosponsored by: Harlan J. Strauss Visiting Filmmaker Endowment; Department of Art; Department of Comparative Literature; Department of English; Department of History; Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies; Native American and Indigenous Studies; Folklore and Public Culture Program; School of Journalism and Communication; Art House Theater; DUX Present; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art; Julie and Rocky Dixon Chair of U.S. Western History; and Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities.

Spring Storm is the School of Art + Design's annual end-of-year exhibition and celebrates the culminating work of senior students completing degrees in Art, Art & Technology, and Product Design.

Engaging a broad range of art and design practices, the work reflects the pluralism of contemporary culture and the dynamism of their curiosity and engagement. 

Spring Storm marks a pivotal moment for graduating seniors, celebrating their college experience and launching them into a lifetime of creative thinking and innovative action.