The Penn State School of Visual Arts’ (SoVA) Edwin W. Zoller Gallery is hosting Nouf Alhamdan’s master of fine arts (MFA) thesis exhibition, "Waiting for GPS Signal," capturing Alhamdan’s journey from Saudi Arabia to the United States, and issues that she encountered along the way, including, identity, positionality, and global, as well as social and political. The exhibition will be on display Monday, March 24 through Friday, March 28. There will be a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, March 24, in the gallery. Click here for a complete listing of Zoller Gallery events.
Alhamdan, originally from Saudi Arabia, will receive her MFA degree with a concentration in new media from the Penn State School of Visual Arts. Receiving her undergraduate degree in special education, Alhamdan always had a passion for the visual arts, most especially new media and filmmaking. “I attended the MFA program without any previous knowledge in art, my bachelors was in special education, and this was one of the biggest challenges in my life,” said Alhamdan. Upon graduation, she plans to return to Saudi Arabia to teach at the collegiate level, and to one day earn her doctorate.
The MFA degree is the terminal degree in the field and thus, the MFA Thesis Exhibition is the culmination of each student's creative research completed during their graduate studies. Students work closely with their faculty committee to develop a body of work that they exhibit in Zoller Gallery. Each MFA students also presents a public artist talk as part of the exhibition.
The Edwin W. Zoller Gallery is a nonprofit exhibition space dedicated to the advancement of the visual arts and is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. Monday through Friday during Fall and Spring semesters. Zoller Gallery was founded in 1971 and is located in the Visual Arts Building off Curtin Road adjoining the Palmer Museum of Art on the University Park campus. Public programming at Zoller includes artist lectures, visual art performances, artist residencies and interdisciplinary events. This facility was named for Edwin W. Zoller in recognition of his dedicated career as an artist and teacher.