Artwork credit: Gericault De La Rose, In Between, 2022

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dara Katrina Del Rosario
Communications & Partnerships Manager
[email protected]

SOMArts Cultural Center and San Francisco Foundation presents
2022 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition
featuring 13 emerging Bay Area Artists from regional MFA programs

Curated by Kevin B. Chen
On view Saturday, September 10–Friday, October 7, 2022

August 8, 2022, San Francisco, CA – SOMArts Cultural Center and San Francisco Foundation present the 2022 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition, a focused look at the future of the Bay Area visual and media arts landscape, on view Saturday, September 10–Friday, October 7, 2022. The exhibition launches with a free, all-ages opening reception and awards ceremony on Friday, September 9, 6–8 PM PST. The virtual gallery will be available on SOMArts’ website starting Saturday, September 10.

This multidisciplinary showcase features the work of 13 promising visual artists from regional Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) programs selected by this year’s jury (independent curator Trisha Lagaso Goldberg, 2019 Murphy Award winner Shirin Towfiq, and curator/Berkeley Art Center Co-Director Elena Gross) and identifies students whose work connects directly to the local, national, and global concerns of the arts field. All awardees benefit by receiving mentorship from renowned artist and curator Kevin B. Chen and SOMArts Cultural Center.

The Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award is given to one MFA student of exceptional caliber with great artistic promise. This year’s Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy awardee is the University of California, Berkeley’s Gericault De La Rose whose interdisciplinary practice uses “their brown body as an amulet against the plague of forgetting within a postcolonial world that reinforces collective amnesia.”

Edwin Anthony and Adalaine Boudreaux Cadogan both experienced financial challenges as art students and understood the great difference scholarships can make in the early phase of an artist’s career. The 12 Cadogan awardees include multidisciplinary artist Tiare Ribeaux who “involves a magical realist exploration of spirituality, labor, and the natural environment,” graphic designer and bookmaker Thad Higa who heavily focuses on “the dialogue between visual and written language, and art book origami,” Dance Doyle whose recent tapestries are informed by their research on mental health, homelessness, and the people working tirelessly to provide essential resources, and photographer Charles H. Lee, III whose work underscores the nuance of contemporary Black life by exploring issues surrounding reclamation, identity, family, class, authorship, and othering.

MURPHY AWARD
Gericault De La Rose, University of California Berkeley

CADOGAN AWARD
Irma Yuliana Barbosa, University of California Berkeley
Carolina Cuevas, California College of the Arts
Dance Doyle, California College of the Arts
Eniola Fakile, University of California Berkeley
Rachell Hester, San Jose State University
Thad Higa, Mills College
Tina Kashiwagi, Stanford University
Charles H. Lee,III, California College of the Arts
Philippa Renshaw, San Francisco State University
Tiare Ribeaux, University of California Berkeley
Maryam Safanasab, San Francisco State University
Jake Shapiro, San Francisco State University

CURATED BY
Kevin B. Chen 

CALENDAR LISTINGS
2022 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition
Presented by SOMArts Cultural Center and San Francisco Foundation
Saturday, September 10–Friday, October 7, 2022
Focused look at the future of the Bay Area visual and media arts landscape presented in partnership with San Francisco Foundation.

Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony
Friday, September 9, 6–8 PM PST
Celebrate this year’s awardees with this free, all-ages opening reception and awards ceremony.

To learn more, visit: somarts.org/murphycadogan2022

GALLERY HOURS
Saturday–Sunday
12:00–2:00 PM, 2:30–5:00 PM

Thursday–Friday
3:00–5:00 PM, 5:30–7:30 PM

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ABOUT SOMARTS CULTURAL CENTER

SOMArts Cultural Center, founded in 1979, cultivates access to the arts within the Bay Area by collaborating with community-focused artists and organizations. Together, we engage the power of the arts to provoke just and fair inclusion, cultural respect and civic participation.

SOMArts plays a vital role in the arts ecosystem by helping activate the arts citywide. We do this by providing space and production support for non-profit events, as well as fairs and festivals throughout the Bay Area, and offering a robust program of art exhibitions, classes, events and performances that are affordable and accessible to all. SOMArts’ exhibition programs receive critical support from the San Francisco Arts Commission and The San Francisco Foundation, and are sponsored in part by a grant from Grants for the Arts.

SOMArts is located at 934 Brannan Street—between 8th and 9th—within 2 blocks of 101, I-80, Muni lines and bike paths. For public information call 415-863-1414 or visit somarts.org. Stay connected by following us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

ABOUT SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION
The San Francisco Foundation is committed to a Bay Area where everyone can get a good job, live in a safe and affordable home, and exercise their political voice. The foundation advances its work through grantmaking, partnerships with donors, policy advocacy, and impact investing. Learn more at sff.org.