When I Hear the News, I Want To...

Managing emotions during hard times is difficult. Feelings of grief and rage wash over many of us after watching the news. Throughout this curatorial exhibition project, SFSU students demonstrate the variety of ways they seek comfort through a complicated and often distressing present. Some desired to return to childhood play while others sought solace through nature, community, and protest. Acknowledging the act of practicing comfort is necessary to turn these emotions into action, as without a break many of us will snap under the realities of today’s world. The works featured in this exhibition delve into the different emotions the news may evoke within us and the different methods we use to cope with reality.

This exhibition was organized by San Francisco State University’s Spring 2026 ART 619-02 Exhibition Design class: Sophia Aguilar, Ella Banker, Rylee Brown, Anika Caddick, Emma Calderon, Robert Coronado, Veronica Gonzalez Flores, Joshua Gorospe, Benjamin Ho, Rowan Ignacio, Samantha Jimenez, Isaiah Lacayo-Rocha, Daria Maksymenko, Alyssa Mallari, Ellie Morris, Juliana Niculitcheff, Isabel Olmes-Leiva, Liliana Solano, Guadalupe Valenzuela, Angelina Volovik, and Bella Zurbuch. Class taught by Kevin B. Chen.

Exhibition Design classes at San Francisco State University introduce upper-division Studio Art and Art History majors, as well as graduate students in Museum Studies and Fine Arts, to the fundamental principles of organizing exhibitions. The course covers a wide range of topics – including curatorial research, art handling, registration, and lighting – with an emphasis on providing hands-on experience in the multifaceted field of gallery management. As part of the SFSU class's curriculum exploring curation, students began by developing their own exhibitions using NIAD's extensive online inventory. Their concepts explored a range of themes, from cultivating a sense of belonging through community to empowerment through transformation, from finding comfort in childlike play to experiencing renewal through time spent in nature. Building on this foundation, Chen's class later collaborated on a project examining how to remain grounded amid overwhelming current events, culminating in this collectively organized exhibition.