TROPICAL MIRAGE

A mirage is something ephemeral, something brief, a moment in time, possibly a dream. It’s a longing for connection to place, one held with fleeting memories.

Please join us in celebrating the vibrant work of Beatriz Amelia Whitehill and Emily Rose at MassArt’s Arnheim Gallery from April 14 - April 28, 2025. Presented by the Art Education Department’s Spring Exhibitions Course, Tropical Mirage is a collaborative exhibition between Whitehill and Rose that explores concepts of identity, home, memory, sisterhood, and friendship. Beatriz Whitehill’s narrative paintings draw viewers into a dreamscape of personal and collective memories, accentuated by symbols and motifs of Puerto Rican folklore, history, and culture. Emily Rose’s multi-media work fuses found objects and domestic materials to explore the ideas around relationships, home, tradition and connection. This exhibition features recent works they have made alongside one another at their shared studio at Boston Center for the Arts. Tropical Mirage brings together mystical visions of past and present to remind us that our dreams and memories can be representations of our identities.

We, at MassArt, are proud to host these two fantastic artists in their second duo show. Their first show was Unaccustomed Earth, hosted at the Beacon Gallery and curated by Chenoa Baker. Tropical Mirage aims to build upon the work and ideas from that show, such as the resilience found in diasporic identity, in new and dazzling ways, told through each artist’s own interdisciplinary visual language that incorporates painting, sculpture, textiles, animation, and installation.

Each year, Art Education students in the Exhibitions course work together to put on a professional exhibition. This year, led by artist and professor, Gabriel Sosa, students collaborated with Rose and Whitehill to create a thoughtful and engaging show. From selecting works and making mock-ups, to creating hands-on programming and designing promotional materials, MassArt students learned what it takes to bring an exhibition to life.

“...Rose and Whitehill fuse memory and mythology as an act of resilience and self-discovery.” - Jasper A. Sánchez, Curator and Art Historian