2021 MFA & MA Thesis Exhibition

Claire Eide is an art educator and historian from unceded Sauk and Meskwaki land known as Des Moines, Iowa. She holds a BA in history with a focus on colonial theory from Grinnell College and continues to research colonial processes especially as it relates to art accessibility in rural places. Her academic and pedagogical pursuits are grounded in collaboration and process-based making.

Emily Elliott is a driven art educator with 20 years of experience. She has taught all levels, from infant to adult, in subjects ranging from rock climbing to health to fiber art. She considers herself a teacher first and an art specialist second. Emily holds a BS in art education from Kutztown University. She is in the MFA in Socially Engaged Art program, where she is focusing on teaching as an artistic practice.

Megan Galardi is an arts researcher and advocate from Philadelphia, PA. She has an undergraduate degree in growth and structure of cities from Bryn Mawr College. She is interested in themes of creative placemaking and the way that the arts can shape cities and communities. Her research focuses on artist-run spaces and grassroots arts organizations in Philadelphia.

Ashley Ja'nae is an interdisciplinary teaching and visual artist and a Libra. She creates imagery centered around notions of belonging, identity and intimacy through Black people's relationship with hair, ourselves and our communities. With classic hip-hop instrumentals playing in the background, she facilitates art-learning experiences for young people to develop a stronger sense of self. Ja'nae, the only daughter of Melissa Morris, Dorothy's daughter, was born and raised in Wards 1 and 7 in Washington DC. She received her BFA in art and design education from Pratt Institute and is currently pursuing her MFA in Socially Engaged Studio Art at Moore. Ja'nae has exhibited her work in New York City, the Washington metropolitan area, and Prague, among other locations. She is a former member of the DC Arts Center Sparkplug collective, an aggressive bike rider, a black cat owner/pal.

Qiaira Riley is a Sagittarius, fourth-generation Chicago native, and interdisciplinary artist based in Philadelphia. She holds a dual-major BA with honors from Lake Forest College in African studies and studio art, and is currently a Socially Engaged Studio Art MFA candidate at Moore. Her academic, curatorial and creative work explores archiving, Black women's cooking phenomenology, ancestral veneration, internet art, care and simulacra.

Among other projects, Riley is currently working on the Princess Pamela Project, a community cooking series, where she acts as a surrogate descendant to chef and restaurateur Princess Pamela, and attempts to recreate each recipe from her 1969 soul food cookbook 12 times with 12 different people.

Antoinette Liguori Sirianni is an environmentally minded artist, mother and student who is passionate about the consequences of single-use plastic pollution on our planet. She manipulates these nonrecyclable bits into tactile installations that raise awareness of the consequence these materials are having on our planet, and our unwitting participation. Sirianni believes in process over product, using her sculptural voice to shout out the dangers of this colossal plastic pandemic.

Following her BFA from Fashion Institute of Technology, Sirianni worked for over 20 years as a graphic designer and art director in New York City and Philadelphia. As an MFA candidate at Moore, her practice now mainly focuses on sculpture and experimentation surrounding the disposal and the ultimate end of life of these “forever” items. Sirianni creates art that magnifies the issue and illustrates the peril of this ever-growing crisis. Using these materials as a solution, she challenges her audience to understand their responsibility regarding these plastics and the imperative of keeping them out of the waste stream by coming up with “end of life” solutions at their beginning of life.