Art, Film and Visual Studies 2026 Senior Thesis Exhibition: And Yet We Are Dreamers

Art, Film, and Visual Studies 2026 Senior Thesis Exhibition: And Yet We Are Dreamers

May 1 – May 29, 2026

Level 1 & 3 

Grace R. Bida, Katherrin Billordo, Namuungoo Enkhbat, Anne-Charlotte Gillard, Mailyn Gonzalez, Lisa Lin, Madelyn E. McKenzie, Zoë Price, Milo Schwalbe, Taylor Sean Johnson

The 2026 Senior Thesis Exhibition at the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, And Yet We Are Dreamers, presents the culminating work of students in Harvard’s Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies (AFVS). Developed over the course of a year in close collaboration with faculty advisers, each thesis represents an extended inquiry into form, process, and perception.

Unfolding over two-floors, And Yet We Are Dreamers reflects a shared persistence of imagination shaped by lived experience. It holds a sense of looking back toward the dreams, memories, and aspirations that have guided each artist and with an appreciation for how those visions, however uncertain or evolving, have shaped the paths that led to this moment now. At the same time, it acknowledges that such dreams are rarely fixed or fully realized; they shift, fragment, and take on new forms over time. What remains is an ongoing relationship to imagining, making, and becoming.

Working across media including installation, painting, video, sculpture, and text, this year’s thesis cohort engages with themes of memory, repetition, ritual, and the translation of lived experience into material form. From immersive environments shaped by light and sound to process-driven works rooted in gesture and accumulation, the exhibition reflects a wide range of approaches to making and meaning. Together, the theses serve as a constellation of investigations into how we experience and reimagine the world.
 

Open Studios

Friday, May 1, 2026
5:00pm-7:00pm

Stop by the Carpenter Center on Friday, May 1, 5–7pm for the Opening of the Senior Thesis Exhibition and Open Studios, a showcase of the work students have created in the Spring 2026 courses.