Pitt’s University Art Gallery just launched its 2025 student-curated exhibits, featuring an emphasis on local art and community.
The UAG is the largest collection of art at Pitt, housing over 3,000 works of art in its permanent collection and rotating student-led exhibits. Located in the Frick Fine Arts building, the UAG offers an opportunity for students interested in art, museum studies and other professions to engage in experiential learning.
The UAG provides opportunities for students to get involved in career building early on, according to Dessa Zekic, a first-year history of art and architecture major and gallery attendant at the UAG.
“It’s really awesome to engage with the public and engage with art so early in my college career,” Zekic said. “It’s not just a job — it’s a community.”
On Oct. 16, three new exhibitions were launched — “Wavelengths: deRoy Gruber — Filkosky — Fuller — Haskell,” “Rethinking the Rotunda III: José Santiago Pérez’s ‘As Above’ & Charmette Young’s ‘It Keeps My Hands Busy’” and “Earth & Ether: The Art of Lucille and Virgil Cantini.”
The “Earth and Ether” exhibition was curated by students in the HAA 1019, “Curatorial Development,” and HAA 1022, “Exhibition Presentation” classes. The process of putting together an exhibit teaches students creative thinking skills and the ability to work around obstacles and limitations, according to Alex Taylor, an academic curator at the UAG and associate professor in the department of history of art and architecture.
“Exhibitions are always shaped by constraints,” Taylor said. “Our classes help students understand that these constraints can actually be productive, triggering creativity that none of us imagined when we begin.”
The three exhibits launched on Oct. 16 will be up until Jan. 30, 2026. The work that goes into curating an exhibition — from initial research, to developing a show’s title, concept and structure, to finally presenting and giving tours of the exhibit — teaches students skills including research, collaboration and creative thinking, according to Sylvia Rhor Samaniego, director and curator at the UAG.
“I always say to our students that curating an exhibition involves many years of work before you’re installing it,” Samaniego said. “Even after the exhibition is installed, it still has a life of public engagement or use.”
The “Earth & Ether” exhibit showcases pieces by Pittsburgh artist Virgil Cantini and sheds light on the work of his wife, Lucille Cantini, whose contributions to the Cantini legacy often lack recognition.
“We hope that the research [on the Cantinis] will continue, so this shouldn’t be the end of the story — it should be the start of a new story,” Samaniego said. “We’ve opened up this door on Lucille, for example, and we hope some students will take that even further.”
Isabel Beames, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, said showcasing art and artists is an important aspect of social movements.
“I think that it brings awareness to a lot of issues,” Beames said. “Artists definitely delve into different topics that are hard to express in words.”
The goal with these student-led exhibitions is to expose students to real-life experiences that could prepare them for their future careers, according to Samaniego.
“The students have actual hands-on experiential learning in putting together a professional level exhibition,” Samaniego said. “They learn all of the ins and outs of what goes into putting an exhibition together. That’s an invaluable experience.”
Beyond future career experience, students still learn many valuable skills, according to Taylor.
“Students who choose other careers still gain, I think, valuable experience working as part of a collaborative team to manage a complex, public-facing project involving a range of stakeholders,” Taylor said.
The art exhibitions at the UAG serve students across many disciplines, including STEM and non-art-related disciplines, according to Samaniego.
“We engage with public health, math, science, social sciences, all disciplines across the board,” Samaniego said. “These artworks and these exhibitions can be touchstones for learning across the curriculum.”
Beames, who works as a gallery attendant at the UAG exhibits, said that she grew up around art, which is what initially drove her to work at the UAG.
“Working here is like a compliment to my STEM side,” Beames said. “The UAG gets me out of the ‘science world’ and into the creative world. It’s a beautiful break.”
The impact of the UAG goes beyond Pitt academics and into the larger Pittsburgh community.
“We are lucky enough to be surrounded by great museums in Oakland,” Taylor said. “But the University Art Gallery does something different and special — it is a place where our students get to engage directly with works of art and tell new stories through these objects.”
The UAG aims to uncover more of the community and regional story, according to its mission and vision. According to Samaniego, much of the Pittsburgh region’s history has not been valued enough — which is something the UAG is trying to change.
“With our exhibitions and with our permanent collection, we’re really leaning into telling the stories of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh artists, and this region in a way that they haven’t been told before,” Samaniego said.
The UAG is working on playing an active role at the University and the broader community.
“It’s a public space that’s open not just for students of art but for any student who wants to come in and view art, be a part of the program, and be a part of this community,” Samaniego said. “It’s one of those interesting spaces that’s both curricular and outside the curriculum. And I, for that reason, hope that every student on this campus feels welcome.”