A group of senior photography students took their final exhibition into their own hands after their thesis was canceled and created UNBOUND, an “immersive online group exhibition” that will showcase the thesis projects of 52 graduating BFA Photography students from Parsons. 

On May 17, UNBOUND will have their official launch after eight and a half months of collaboration and planning. The launch will take place on their website and will include online catalogs that will showcase students’ films, installations, featured photographs, and artist books in addition to the three virtual reality galleries. There will also be a student-produced documentary, panel discussions, and Instagram takeovers where graduating photography students will share a glimpse into their thesis projects on @unboundgallery. 

Parsons’ photography seniors Noah O’Leary and Alexandria Riesberg took matters into their own hands and came up with a way to showcase and celebrate the photography students’ thesis work. Their ideas turned into a virtual community-oriented celebration of their work. When they proposed this idea to others, a third senior, Lily Engelmaier, joined on board and the three co-founded UNBOUND together. 

Although the ideal presentation would be in person, Engelmaier said, “We realized that could be accomplished better through an online show, especially with a large portion of our class being out of New York at the moment.” 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the budget cuts, funds typically allocated for student exhibitions were eliminated. COVID-19 restrictions changed the way photo students can present their thesis, the most important project for many art students. 

Students and faculty began having discussions over the summer about what the 2021 thesis show would look like, and students proposed a variety of possibilities to bring their work to life. Nothing sparked excitement about what had thus been presented to them, and frustrations built. 

“We wanted to create Unbound because we felt that the school wasn’t meeting our needs,” Alison Dias, head of the group’s design team wrote the New School Free Press via email. “In a time of global adversity, we understood that there would be hurdles. However, we expected that the school would give us the support we needed and the show we were promised and deserved. Unbound is rooted in a community of students who brought their talents and dedication to their practice, and to each other, to create a show that is deserving of our hard work.”

“So, long story short, there were issues with the university,” Engelmaier told the Free Press. “We were getting no communication other than what our faculty was able to give us, which, unfortunately, because the school is very top-heavy, was not much. And also not having a clear budget, or being told we weren’t going to have a budget, to begin with.” 

Although the ideas represented what they would like to happen, most of what had been brought forth were either impossible or deemed too expensive by the school, although funding exists every year for senior thesis exhibitions. 

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For art students, the senior thesis show is an exhibition of all of the hard work and dedication students put into their craft for four years. It is a celebration of not only ending college but a celebration of the future of the arts and building of community. For many students, it is the final act in bringing a sense of closure to their studies at the institution.

“When I found out the show was canceled, I was devastated and felt lost,” said Dias. She explained that she has been waiting four years for graduation and the thesis show, especially as an international student who traveled “across the world” to pursue photography. 

“When Noah and Alex presented the idea for a show to a handful of us, I felt so much compassion for my peers,” Dias said. “This year hasn’t been easy, but working together as a community to build something that we can be proud of I think will stay with us for the rest of our lives,” she said. 

UNBOUND’s goal is to create a community and have that be at the forefront of the exhibition. Students can partake in a showcase that supports them while feeling “seen and heard” during a time of uncertainty. 

Englemaier said that the team wanted the exhibition to be “something where we didn’t have to be inhibited by structural roadblocks, like no bureaucracy, no administration. Everything just on a very democratic, egalitarian, playing field that we could all just situate ourselves within and do for each other.” 

“We are not bound to the institution, we are not bound to adversity, and we thrive amongst it and are capable of exceeding expectations,” said Dias.

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At the beginning of the project, students were focused on keeping out anyone who would not be supportive of their plan, even the administration. But as their idea of what they wanted became clearer, and they began to realize the amount of work that was needed to pull off their own thesis exhibition, the team decided to reach out for help: the entire graduating class of photography students. They also met with faculty to aid in their planning. 

The exhibition has teams for social media and design, a graphic designer, writers, designers, and others, all working together to create an exhibition for and by the students, with no assistance from The New School. 

Engelmaier said that UNBOUND became “About what we wanted to prioritize and seeing so many of us choosing to prioritize the community that we found at school was so incredible. It just really showed me how meaningful what we’ve established together is and has given me a lot of hope that will continue to build that in the future.” 

Students also realized that funding would be necessary for the huge undertaking. So the students created a fundraiser on Indiegogo to raise money for the project. Their campaign called “Unbound – Photography VR Show, Student Initiative” has raised more than $4,700 as of May 10.

“The campaign was actually like a huge labor of love,” Engelmaier said. Within the first week, their original goal of $3,500 was met, and they continued the campaign as they realized they needed more money for their project, material cost, website, media coverage, and production materials. People could donate to this project by purchasing t-shirts, postcards, and zines created by the students. 

For the final virtual showcase, the focus was placed on staying away from the typical lightbox gallery, as students wanted to go outside the confines of the walls that they had seen in the past. “We wanted to have a web-based catalog where you can easily navigate each person’s name, but then we also really wanted to have virtual reality spaces,” Engelmaier said. The final product of their virtual exhibition is three different virtual reality spaces, representing the forest, cosmos, and ocean, with 15 artists showcased within each space. “They [the virtual reality spaces] have this open floor plan concept so that when you’re walking through space with your keyboard, it’s an open space, nothing is confining it, there are no walls,” Engelmaier said. 

From May 3-10, graduating students conducted Instagram takeovers on @unboundgallery where they shared a glimpse into their thesis projects. On Wednesday, the first-panel discussion will be held via Zoom, moderated by Professor Kim Hoeckele, where students discuss “radical imagination and the creation of the show.” On May 15 and 16, a student-created documentary will be released in two parts, produced, directed, and edited by a member of the UNBOUND team, Tyler Dehaarte. On May 17, the UNBOUND virtual reality exhibition will officially be published and shared for all to experience. 

Lastly, on May 22, the final part of the panel series with artists Drew Nikonowicz and a recent 2020 Parsons graduate Sarah Peck will join in discussion with the UNBOUND team on “the role of the artist in the community.” 

The UNBOUND team wanted every design and element of the project to relate to their goals, including the use of a string intertwined within the word, UNBOUND, showing loose lines as the students are breaking through the bounds, Engelmaier said. 

“I think it’s a really beautiful culmination of four years at this school. And also, just like the pinnacle of seeing the work myself and my classmates have done over the years and seeing us all in one space, I think it’s going to be special,” Engelmaier said. “Also, with this being web-based, it can live on as this kind of like document an artifact of what this time was to us even though it’s been a ton of work. It’s been the most rewarding thing I think I’ve done in my time at Parsons.” 

When asked what the exhibition means to her, Dias said, “I think we all became a support for each other in a way that we haven’t before. I’ve always admired the community we have at Parsons, but UNBOUND is proof of the power of community and gave me the belief that regardless of the current global climate, we, as artists, will always uphold and support each other. That’s really all I could ask for as an end to my four years in college.”

The work that the leaders and members of the UNBOUND team have completed has been like a second thesis project the co-founders shared. UNBOUND has a powerful meaning to all students involved in it, specifically Englemaier, who has helped lead the project and showcasing her thesis project in it. Engelmaier said, “Alongside that, the skills I’ve been able to nurture through doing this are pretty incredible. I feel way more capable of going out into the workforce and entering the art world as a career as I did than I did before this year.” 

UNBOUND’s Official Press Release.