2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition Part 2: Ghost Light—Gallery Viewing Hours

We look forward to welcoming you to visit the second of two Pratt Fine Arts MFA Thesis Exhibitions at our MFA program location at Dock 72 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. If you would like to attend the Opening Reception on Monday, April 27, please register .

Curated by Alessandra Gómez

April 27 - May 8, 2026

Opening Reception: Monday, April 27, 6 - 8pm

The exhibition Ghost Light takes its name from the long-standing tradition of leaving a single glowing lightbulb on a portable stand when a theater is unoccupied at night. Beyond their practical role in preventing accidents in an otherwise dark theater, ghost lights serve a secondary purpose. According to theater superstition, they are believed to either appease or ward off mischievous spirits that dwell and haunt theatrical spaces. In these dual associations, a ghost light functions as a symbolic, protective presence.

Within this metaphorical framework, the exhibition considers artistic practices that trace the ways in which memories and histories dwell and haunt architectural spaces and landscapes, alongside artists interested in fantasy and world-building. Among the sixteen artists, some draw from archives or historical events to engage with architecture, tracing how walls, floors, façades, and domestic spaces hold meaning. Others turn to ecological sites to trace the aftermath of destruction or reflect on personal memories and feelings of displacement. This exhibition invites visitors to sense their own ghost lights as a metaphorical thread to understand what remains, persists, and haunts the resonant spaces we inhabit.

Exhibiting artists: Julie Jewon Huh, Jay Guo, malu laet, Yongxi (Vivian) Lin, Minjee, Marie Moeller, Jessi Olarsch, Caroline O'Grady, Morgan O'Connell, Sefa Ozdogan, Hannah Law, Tanvi Shaha, Ry Watkins, Rainy Yuchen Wei, Nessa Yang, and Zheming (Jennings) Yang

Alessandra Gómez is an interdisciplinary curator and writer based in New York. For over a decade, she has led artistic programs and developed more than seventy-five commissions spanning visual art, dance, theater, performance, and music. Her curatorial practice centers on large-scale, cross-disciplinary projects that bridge institutional and commercial contexts.

She is currently the consultant Public Art Curator at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and is the Head Art Curator at the Wythe Hotel, where she oversees acquisitions and directs the hotel’s art programming. Gómez is also part of the curatorial collective behind Offerings, an experimental performance series held at St. Mary the Virgin Church in the heart of Times Square. In addition, she consults for the Democracy Cycle program at the Perelman Performing Arts Center.

Previously, Gómez was a curator for Luna Luna, a revived art amusement park originally created by André Heller in 1987. From 2018 to 2023, she was part of the Shed’s founding curatorial team, organizing exhibitions and performances by Shayne Oliver and Anonymous Club, Maxwell Alexandre, and commissions as part of the Open Call program. She has guest curated projects for Nike, Queens Museum, Columbia University, Center for Performance Research (CPR), and Knockdown Center, among others.

Gómez has served on numerous visual and performing arts grant panels and has contributed writing to artist catalogues and online publications. She holds an MA from Columbia University and a dual degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Image: Alessandra Gómez, photo by MTHR TRSA

Access to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Dock 72 is restricted ONLY to those with an ID card of a visitor pass. All who RSVP here will receive an email with information on how to receive their Visitor QR Code Pass, which will be issued the morning of the event.

Please register each person attending the event with their individual email, so that they receive their own unique QR pass. Limit one pass per visitor.

You will receive a digital QR pass via email that will appear in your inbox as: DOCK 72 Visitor Check-in from [email protected]. Please check your SPAM folder if you cannot locate it. NO PASS = NO ACCESS. This pass will be good for the date of the event only.

You will first use your pass to enter the Brooklyn Navy Yard at whichever gate is convenient. You can come by taxi (showing your pass to the guard to enter) but if you drive, you will need to park OUTSIDE the Navy Yard and walk in. There is NO parking at Dock 72.

Additionally, Dock 72 is situated next to the NYC Ferry and Citibike, and there are shuttles available on-site to and from MTA subway stops. For more info, please visit:

NOTE: If you are taking a taxi or rideshare to the Navy Yard, enter, as your drop-off and pick-up location. Enter the Navy Yard via Building 77, using your access QR code at the gates at the end of the hall in Building 77, past the food places. Rideshares and taxis are not allowed to enter the Navy Yard for pick-up.

When you arrive at Dock 72, enter the Lobby and then use your pass at ELEVATOR BANK C, which is the last elevator bank right at the end of the lobby (past the lobby cafe, near the exit door at the very end).

At the elevator bank, select Floor 3 on the digital pad, which will then indicate which elevator to take.

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Host or Publisher Pratt Institute