The lives and experiences of students, families, faculty and professional staff who identify as first-generation are the subject of increased attention in higher education across the United States. The success of programs, initiatives, and interventions mostly focus on measurable student “outcomes” but may often miss the complicated narratives of aspiration, sacrifice, accomplishment and identity work first-generation students, families, faculty, staff and communities navigate.  Portraiture can make visible the triumphs and challenges of being first in the family in higher educational spaces. This juried exhibition features works that highlight the  first-generation college experience through portraiture  made in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking and textiles.

Metamorphosis: Life is all about transitions from one time in life to another. Artists of any art from have dreams of becoming a master in their genre, successful in their career, and recognized to the masses. The models in the paintings are artists in music, art, and performing art  based on a moment in their life or a narrative Nanci has created from film, literature or poetry. Figurative storytelling is infused with light, patterns, and human presence to that have visual impact and make the viewers ponder over the meaning and left to their interpretations. France-Vaz is known for her Imaginative Portraits that render allegorical symbols combined with story and imagination. Most of the work is of female artists that never give up hope or their dreams of becoming a reality.

Michael Anthony Donato, a School of Visual Arts graduate, is an award-winning children’s book illustrator. His work on Squanto and the First Thanksgiving aired on Showtime and earned honors from the American Library Association. His illustrations for Tales Alive, a collection of global folktales, received a Parents’ Choice Award. Donato also collaborated with Simon & Schuster and the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Voyage Up the Nile. He currently teaches drawing and advanced painting at Monmouth University.