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MassArt Alum Rania Abdalla Kadafour Explores Memory and Identity Through Textile Sculpture

A MassArt alum stands in an art studio with textile sculpture, wall hangings, a desk, and blue-trimmed windows.
Rania Abdalla Kadafour in her Jamaica Plain studio, June 2026. Photo by Cameron Kincheloe for Boston Art Review.
  • Alumni in the News
  • 3D Arts
  • Fibers

MassArt alum Rania Abdalla Kadafour ’24 is featured in Boston Art Review for her distinctive soft-relief sculptures, which combine trapunto quilting, painted needlework, abstraction, and Sudanese cultural memory.

Working from her Jamaica Plain studio, Abdalla Kadafour creates tactile pieces that resist immediate interpretation and invite viewers to look closely, remain curious, and participate in making meaning. Works such as face/gaze, ZOLA, and Paper Doll Dress explore identity, language, cultural memory, assimilation, and the ways clothing can shape self-expression.

The article also highlights Abdalla Kadafour’s community-based practice. Since 2024, she has organized sewing circles that bring Black Bostonians together to create, reflect, and find connection through textile work.

Her latest work continues to examine the body, clothing, restriction, and play. A forthcoming exhibition opens in August at Lagoon New York in Brooklyn.

Learn more at Boston Art Review.

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MassArt Night Market Brings Students and Alumni Together for Art and Community

  • Alumni in the News
  • MassArt in the Media
  • Business of Creative Industries
The 2026 MassArt Night Market brought more than 100 student and alumni vendors to Downtown Crossing for an evening of art, creative entrepreneurship, demonstrations, and community.
The Suffolk Journal 

Jess T. Dugan’s Work Featured in Boston Art Review’s Fall Exhibition Guide

  • Alumni in the News
  • Photography
Boston Art Review highlights "I’m right here with you," a retrospective of work by alum Jess T. Dugan, BFA '07 Photography, including photography, drawing, video, and writing opening in Provincetown this fall.
Boston Art Review 

MassArt Photography Alum Nick Ortoleva Featured in PRC Mentorship Program

  • Alumni in the News
  • Photography
Nick Ortoleva, BFA '24 Photography, is a part of the Photographic Resource Center’s 50th anniversary mentorship program, pairing him with artist Tommy Kha for six months of mentorship and critical dialogue.
Lenscratch 

MassArt Alumna Erin Robertson Featured Among Project Runway Winners

  • Alumni in the News
  • Fashion Design
Looking back at the careers of all 21 Project Runway winners, including MassArt alumna Erin Robertson, BFA '16 Fashion and Fibers, who won the show's 15th season.
PEOPLE 

MassArt Alumna Catherine LeComte Lecce Leads Photographic Resource Center

  • Alumni in the News
  • MFA Photography
  • Photography
Catherine LeComte Lecce, MFA '23 Photography, on her work as executive director of the Photographic Resource Center, including a new mentorship program for emerging photographers.
Lenscratch 

MassArt Alumna Yasuyo Takeo’s SKATEYOGI Featured in The New York Times

  • Alumni in the News
  • Communication Design
MassArt alumna Yasuyo Takeo BFA ’04 Graphic Design is featured in The New York Times for SKATEYOGI, the Brooklyn skateboarding program she co-founded.
Read More

MassArt Graduates Join Vincent Crotty on Community Art Projects in Dorchester

  • Alumni in the News
  • Animation
Artist and visiting lecturer Vincent Crotty on his community-based painting projects in Dorchester, including recent work with MassArt graduate Yanelis Ortiz.
Dorchester Reporter 

MassArt Alumna Lindsay LeBlanc on Glass, Art and Ecology

  • Alumni in the News
  • Glass
Artist, curator, and mentor Lindsay LeBlanc discusses her multidisciplinary glass practice, ecological interests, and the influence of her education at MassArt.
The Gloss 

MassArt alumna Sam Lallement, BFA Fashion Design ’21, launches apparel brand

  • Alumni in the News
  • Fashion Design
MassArt Fashion Design alumna Sam Lallement, BFA '21 is launching her own apparel brand, Apparé, inspired by her love of performance, fashion, and bold design.
Hays Free Press 

The 2026 Lenscratch Honorable Mention Student Prize Winner: Anastasia Sierra

  • Alumni in the News
  • Photography
MassArt Photography alum Anastasia Sierra, MFA '26, is selected as a Lenscratch Student Prize Honorable Mention Winner for her project, "The Witching Hour."
Lenscratch 

MassArt alum Jeremy Ayers named 2026 Seven Daysies Local’s Pick for Best Craft Artisan

  • Alumni in the News
  • Ceramics
Jeremy Ayers, BFA ’98, is recognized among Vermont’s leading craft artisans, known for his ceramic practice Jeremy Ayers Pottery.
Sevens Days Community 

Laura Buscemi, BFA ’24 Illustration, to create a mural on Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

  • Alumni in the News
  • Illustration
MassArt alum Laura Buscemi, BFA '24 Illustration, has been selected from 54 applicants to create a mural on Concord's Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
The Concord Bridge 
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