DC NTX Graduate Student Program

Dallas Contemporary is honored to announce the launch of the Dallas Contemporary North Texas Graduate Student Program. A new annual initiative, the DC NTX Graduate Student Program facilitates generative mentorship and institutional connections between North Texas MFA students in their final year of graduate work and a renowned visiting curator, resulting in an exhibition at Dallas Contemporary. Matthew Higgs, Director and Chief Curator of White Columns, will inaugurate the mentorship program. The program also offers an annual prize to a student in the exhibition and establishes an annual curatorial fellowship to a student pursuing a Master’s degree in art history focused on contemporary art.

Funded with foundational 5-year support from Ann and John McReynolds.

Students are invited to register for consideration by Matthew Higgs, director and chief curator of New York’s White Columns below.

Graduate Student Exhibition at Dallas Contemporary

The Dallas Contemporary Graduate Student Program is a mission-driven program aimed at advancing the early careers of emerging artists schooled in the North Texas region. For it, on an annual basis, DC will appoint a recognized national or international curator to assess and mentor a group of selected cohort of students in their final year of an MFA program, culminating in a museum exhibition at Dallas Contemporary. This program will create healthy friction and connections between MFA students in the North Texas area and renowned national and international curators, encouraging early progress in the careers of emerging artists from this region.

Inaugural Curator | Matthew Higgs, Director and Chief Curator of White Columns, New York

Matthew Higgs. Photo: Aubrey Mayer.

Matthew Higgs is an artist, curator and writer based in New York. He is currently the Director and Chief Curator of White Columns, New York's oldest alternative art space. Since 1993 Higgs has curated more than 250 exhibitions and projects in North America, Europe and Asia; his writings have appeared in over 75 publications and magazines. Previously Higgs was the Curator at the CCA Wattis Institute of Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, and a Director of Exhibitions and London's Institute of Contemporary Art. He has taught extensively over the past thirty years including roles at London's Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths College. In 2006 he was a juror on The Turner Prize at Tate Britain, London. Higgs is the founding curatorial advisor to the Independent Art Fair and a Contributing Editor at The Paris Review.

The McReynolds Award

To underscore the shared commitment to the careers of our community’s artists by Dallas Contemporary and the program’s generous benefactors, Ann and John McReynolds, an award named in the McReynolds’s honor will establish an annual gift of $8,000 to be given to one of the exhibiting MFA students. The McReynolds Award reward reflects both the patrons’ and DC’s belief that a supported local artistic ecosystem benefits all levels of civic and cultural life.

McReynolds Curatorial Fellowship 

Attendant with the MFA initiative will be a paid, academic year-long curatorial fellowship – the McReynolds Curatorial Fellowship, offered to a North Texas graduate student pursuing a Masters of Art art history, with a thesis dedicated to contemporary art, who will assist in organizing the MFA student exhibition, as well as aid the DC curatorial team in other research needs for other exhibitions. The fellowship offers the student first-hand experience in museum curatorial work, providing invaluable professional development. Applications will open in the Spring 2025 semester.

FAQs

  • Wednesday, August 14, 2024.

  • Monday, September 27, 2024.

  • We require all MFA applicants to include 5 images of their work (this includes detail shots), a concise artist statement (250 words), and an updated CV.

  • The Graduate Exhibition does not compete with any regional MFA thesis exhibition. Each year, the exhibition will be hosted from mid-January until early March, so that participating artists can submit any thesis work without fear of conflict. Our ultimate goal is to increase the visibility of our local MFA artists so that their relationship with the local community can flourish, including public attendance to MFA thesis exhibitions.

  • DC believes in the artistic talent of our local community, while also prioritizing quality over quantity. As the host institution, we release all curatorial decisions to our guest curators, who can select a maximum of 15 artists or as few as two artists for the exhibition.

  • The goal of the Graduate Program is to encourage healthy competition and professionalization among graduating MFA students. The artworks included in the final exhibition are determined entirely by the guest curator, who is not required to select artists from each of the regional MFA programs.

  • MFAs in their final year of graduate studies at one of the seven North Texas MFA programs are eligible to apply. These include: 

    • Southern Methodist University

    • Texas Christian University

    • Texas Women’s University

    • University of Dallas

    • University of North Texas

    • University of Texas at Arlington

    • University of Texas at Dallas

  • While we are so encouraged by the excitement of local artists to collaborate with DC, we will not accept applications from Creative PhD students. This program is dedicated to graduate students who have not yet held a thesis exhibition. 

  • Yes. As long as the MFA candidate is set to graduate within the Academic year, they are welcome to apply.

  • Yes. The Dallas Contemporary will treat this exhibition as it does all of its exhibitions, including covering shipping and installation fees.

  • Yes. The W.A.G.E. fee for artists in a group exhibition for a museum of our size is $1,500 per artist.

  • Students will meet with the curator once a month from September to December, so four times. The first visit will be in person and the other three will be virtual studio visits.

  • Yes. We welcome artists to install their own work, if they prefer that to professional art handlers.

  • Yes. All participating artists will join for a public conversation with the exhibition curator around the time of the exhibition opening.

  • January 24, 2025 - March 09, 2025