2025 Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition Spotlights 15 Emerging Artists Transforming the Bay Area Arts Landscape

2025 Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition
Spotlights 15 Emerging Artists Transforming the Bay Area Arts Landscape

On view: November 7–December 7, 2025
Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony: November 6, 7–9 PM PST

Monday, August 18, 2025, San Francisco, CA – Now in its 14th year in one of San Francisco’s most recognizable galleries, SOMArts Cultural Center and the San Francisco Foundation are honored to present the 2025 Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition, which features 15 emerging visual artists developing their artistic potential in painting, sculpture, hybrid practice, installation art, mixed media, drawing, and photography.

The pursuit of an MFA provides students with rigorous training in their artistic discipline, mentorship, and professional development, making scholarship opportunities essential. The Jack and Gertrude Murphy Competitive Award and the Edwin Anthony and Adalaine Boudreaux Cadogan scholarships promote the advancement of Bay Area MFA students, encouraging them to explore their artistic potential. These awards provide crucial financial support for those currently studying at these qualifying universities: California College of the Arts, UC Berkeley, San Francisco State University, San Jose State University, and Stanford University.

“Access to the arts as a means of education, cultural expression, and storytelling is a human right. The Murphy and Cadogan Awards is just one way we show our support to Bay Area emerging individual artists and the creative sector in collaboration with our donors,” shares Esailama G. Artry-Diouf, San Francisco Foundation’s Sr. Program Officer of Arts and Culture.

The Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award of $40,000 is given to one MFA student of exceptional caliber with great artistic promise. This year’s awardee is California College of the Art’s Gabrielle Severson, who uses mapping technology to draw gridded plans for bead works that reimagine photographs tied to her indigenous Siletz identity. Severson’s work “explores themes of identity, Indigeneity, and cultural continuity, often playing with ideas of resolution through beadwork as a visual and conceptual language.”

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 winners of the Cadogan Scholarships receive $6,500  each to support their MFA studies. Cadogan scholarship awardees include:

• Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán (UC Berkeley), whose paintings blend realistic colonial Mexican/Spanish caste paintings with the flat, evocative aesthetics of Aztec pre-Columbian art to honor working-class communities often absent from contemporary art spaces. 
• Multidisciplinary artist and composer Alexa Christine Burrell (Stanford) uses Afro-futurist aesthetics to create immersive visual and sound installations that center the histories of Black, queer, and immigrant communities to explore their relationship to land, language, and memory.  
• England Hidalgo’s (SF State) paintings, illustrations, sculptures, and installations draw from archival sources to explore the remnants of U.S. colonial rule in the Philippines, and through omitting the human subject, seeks to subvert the Western colonial gaze. 

Fellowship recipients were selected by Nancy Lim, Associate Curator at SFMOMA, independent arts worker Renee Cycla Villaseñor, and 2021 Murphy Award recipient and artist Ahn Lee. All awardees benefit from mentorship by celebrated artist and curator Kevin B. Chen and SOMArts Cultural Center.

“SOMArts’ partnership with San Francisco Foundation aims to ensure that Bay Area MFA students learn about this scholarship opportunity to support their studies and push the boundaries of their craft,” says Maria Jenson, SOMArts’ Creative & Executive Director. “As we navigate these turbulent times, it’s vital that emerging artists receive the financial support they need to sustain practices that challenge power dynamics and shift cultural paradigms.”

MURPHY AWARD
Gabrielle Severson, California College of the Arts

CADOGAN AWARD
Eleni Berg, University of California, Berkeley
Alexa Christine Burrell, Stanford University
Kristiana Chan 莊礼恩, University of California, Berkeley
Vincent Chong aka Crystal Monkey, Stanford University
Enam Gbewonyo, Stanford University
England Hidalgo, San Francisco State University
Grace Jin, California College of the Arts
Camila Michaliszyn, San Francisco State University
Héctor Muñoz-Guzmán, University of California, Berkeley
Andy Nguyen, San José State University
Mary Lou Grace Robison, San Francisco State University
Bailey Scieszka, Stanford University
Jasmine Narkita Wiley, California College of the Arts
Alfredo Zapata De Jesús, California College of the Arts

CURATOR
Kevin B. Chen

ACCESSIBILITY
SOMArts is wheelchair accessible and in proximity to several nearby public transportation stops. SOMArts does not have automatic doors at its Main Entrance. Restrooms are ADA-accessible and low-scent cleaning products are used.

For more detailed information regarding accessibility at SOMArts, contact info@somarts.org with any related requests, questions, or concerns.

GALLERY HOURS
Thursday, 3:00–7:00 PM
Friday, 12:00–7:00 PM
Saturday–Sunday, 12:00–5:00 PM

CALENDAR LISTINGS
Gallery entry and exhibition programs are free, all ages unless otherwise noted; Eventbrite RSVPs are highly encouraged.

2025 Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Art Awards Exhibition
On view November 7–December 7, 2025
A focused look at the future of the Bay Area visual and media arts landscape presented in partnership with San Francisco Foundation.

To learn more, visit: somarts.org/murphycadogan2025

Opening Reception & Awards Ceremony
Thursday, November 6, 7–9 PM PST
Join us in celebrating this year’s Murphy & Cadogan awardees, RSVP strongly encouraged.

To RSVP, visit: murphycadogan2025.eventbrite.com

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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 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
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.