One of the Merriam-Webster definitions of "phantasmagoria" is "a constantly shifting complex succession of things seen or imagined." The artists who graduated in May 2020 have adopted "Phantasmagoria" as the title for their long-awaited exhibition in the Danforth Gallery, suggesting the mercurial passage between the real and surreal that many of their works explore.

Seeing the work in person marked another passage, this time from virtual to real. Viewers who experienced these artists' Virtual Exhibition in May could stand before the soft fraying of the edges of Becky Pass's paintings, the crystalline details of Shana Rowe Jackson's skyscapes, and the feathery lucidity of Jenn Messier's drawings installed on the front of an overscale papier-mâché refrigerator. Viewers gazed up at Marcea Crawford's murals, which took their intended places on the sides of campus buildings.

After months in which nearly every aspect of our lives were transformed, the exhibition Phantasmagoria reminded us of another Merriam-Webster definition for the word: "a scene that constantly changes." In the spring, these works forged from the artists’ individual experiences, artistic training, and many hundreds of hours of work in the studio turned difficulty to art. Then, these artistic achievements in diverse media found their audiences through screens. Viewable in person, Phantasmagoria transformed these artists' visions from virtual to real