“GATHER”
March 31 @ 12:00 pm – April 8 @ 5:00 pm
Huret & Spector Gallery
March 31 – April 8, 2026
GATHER, a student-curated exhibition of photographers and lens-based artists exploring meaning, memory, connection, and community at a transformative moment.
Student Lightning Talks: Friday, April 3rd, Noon
Opening Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 5-7 pm
Photography and related media have the power to knit together people, places, and things, both literally and metaphorically. The present moment seems fraught with peril, and systems appear to be unravelling. Yet, at the same time, we have witnessed the power of unity, of people coming together to empower and support each other.
From a thematic, regional open call, 14 emerging student-curators selected 14 emerging artists from New England, ranging from undergraduate to graduate students, emerging to more established, and several pieces per person to present a fuller picture. The resulting exhibition GATHER showcases a broad range of media and genres, including portrait and vernacular photography; printing and sewing on fabric; collaborative and woven imagery; video and 16mm film installation; and kinetic and multi-media sculpture — using analog, digital, and historical processes.
In the pieces selected for GATHER, we were delighted to see new themes emerge including communities and collection, identity and queerness, nostalgia and nature — all with an overall meditative and hopeful tone. In addition, the chosen artists represent a wide geographical range, gathering together artists from across Great Boston and New England. GATHER aims to weave these various threads together to make a larger whole and make a difference.
GATHER was curated by upper-level Emerson undergraduate students (listed below) as part of the seminar VM415, “Curating Contemporary Art,” taught and led by Leslie K. Brown, PhD. As a part of the class and the exhibition, students are responsible for all aspects of the exhibition, encompassing graphic designs, loan agreements, object checklists, educational didactics, social media assets, and press materials.
The Artists of GATHER:
“Alchemy of the Unknowns”:
Lisa Tang Liu & James David Tabor (Stoughton, MA & Phoenix, AZ)
alina balseiro (Medford, MA)
Douglas Breault (Bridgewater, MA)
Haley Cooper (Abington, MA)
Beth D’Elia (Barnstable, MA)
Porter Gifford (Cambridge, MA)
Monica Hamilton (Salem, MA)
Jessie James (Medford, MA)
Shannon Johnson (Boston, MA)
Lee Kilpatrick (Arlington, MA)
Lisa Tang Liu (Stoughton, MA)
Jordan Marshall (Brookline, MA)
Michelle Schapiro (Roxbury, MA)
Francine Weiss (Newport, RI)
Emerging student-curators of GATHER:
Abigail Andrews, Anjali Bakhru, Dylan Boyd, Sophie Dodd, Claire English, Julia Giammarco, Lang Han, Ruyi Huang, Kitty Lei, Daniel Petrylka, Arlo Rader, Jie Sun, Bianca Todini, Maya Wang.
The students in Emerson Curatorial Practices represent majors from Media Arts Production (SOF), Writing, Literature & Publishing (WLP), and Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS), with minors as diverse as Art History, Curatorial Practice & Visual Culture, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, and Science.
* Please note: The Huret and Spector Gallery is located on the 6th Floor of the Tufte Building. Please enter through the doors at 10 Boylston Place Alleyway. Visitor registration and ID are required for visitors without an Emerson ID. Emerson Community need not RSVP. Contact mailto:contemporary@emerson.edu contemporary@emerson.edu for help registering before your visit. Hours are Monday through Friday, 12-5 pm.
RSVP for the Opening Reception
