EUGENE–Seventeen University of Oregon graduate students will present an eclectic mixture of media and artwork styles at "MFA/01," the annual Master of Fine Arts free exhibition, which opens Friday, May 4, at three Eugene galleries.

Organized annually by the UO Museum of Art in cooperation with the School of Architecture and Allied Arts’Department of Art, the exhibit will be making its first-ever appearance in a Portland venue on July 5.

The Eugene showings will continue through May 26 in the Art Grotto at Provenance, 25 E. 8th Ave., and at the Robert Canaga Gallery, 760 Willamette St. Gallery hours for Provenance are 10 a.m.—6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.—5 p.m. Saturdays, while the Canaga gallery is open 10 a.m.—5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 5:30—9 p.m. monthly on the first Fridays.

"MFA/01" will continue through June 9 in the Jacobs Gallery at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, One Eugene Centre. The Jacobs Gallery’s hours are 11 a.m.—3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and during all Hult Center performances.

The Portland area display will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily from July 5 through Aug. 18 at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), 1241 N.W. Johnson.

Coinciding with Eugene’s First Friday Art Walk, the exhibition opening on May 4 will include a free public reception for the artists from 5:30—9 p.m. at each gallery. The July 5 opening also coincides with First Thursday arts activities in Portland.

This year’s "MFA/001" exhibit, co-sponsored by the University of Oregon Bookstore and U.S. Bank, is being shown at off campus galleries because the art museum building is now closed for a major expansion and modernization project that will double the museum’s size. The UO art museum will reopen in Spring 2003 at the conclusion of its $12 million project.

The annual debut exhibition will feature painting, printmaking, photography, ceramics, fibers, visual design, sculpture, metals, multimedia design, performance and installation. It is the culminating event–constituting the equivalent of a master’s thesis–for art students who are candidates for the Master of Fine Arts degree, the most advanced degree offered by the University of Oregon for studio work in the fine arts.

Throughout their final year of study, graduating students work with faculty advisers in the Department of Art and with Museum of Art staff to prepare their artworks for display. Past MFA exhibits have demonstrated high levels of craftsmanship and innovation.

"‘MFA/01’ is a group exhibition," says Kate Wagle, associate professor of art and department head. "Its scale and diversity are powerful visual proof of the program’s ability to produce artists who are engaged in meaningful inquiry."

On exhibit May 4—26 at the Robert Canaga Gallery will be:

Featured May 4—26 in the Art Grotto at Provenance will be:

On display May 4—June 9 at the Jacobs Gallery will be:

Shown July 5—Aug. 18 at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland will be works by all of the MFA students who exhibited in Eugene as well as:

For information about "MFA/01," call the UO Museum of Art, (541) 346-3027; the UO Department of Art, (541) 346-0894; the Robert Canaga Gallery, (541) 342-6282; Provenance, (541) 302-8186; the Jacobs Gallery, (541) 684-5635; or the PNCA, (503) 226-3587.

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