Fall 2025 New Media Arts 4900 Capstone Exhibition: Press Any Key to Continue
December 2, 2025
The New Media Artspace at Baruch College presents Press Any Key to Continue, a group exhibition led by the Fall 2025 Capstone class of the New Media Arts undergraduate minor. The exhibit will run from December 15 to February 3 at the New Media Artspace located in the Newman Library at Baruch College and will also be available online.
Press Any Key to Continue is a collaborative group exhibition of original artworks created and curated by the students of Professor Katherine Behar’s New Media Arts capstone class. Over the course of the fall semester, twenty-two students created meaningful digital artworks.
An opening reception will take place on December 15 from 1:30–3:30 p.m. in the Newman Library. The general public can RSVP for the free event.
Exhibition Themes: Culture, Conflicts, Life Challenges, and Self-reflection
The title of this exhibition nods to technology the students have worked with throughout various New Media Arts classes. The artworks explore themes of Home, Control, Shift, and Return, each of which occupies a floor of the gallery. While these groupings reference the familiar buttons we see on keyboards, they are also representative of themes such as culture and family, economy and social conflicts, growing and shifting perspectives, and self-reflection and love.
Home explores culture and family through personal stories about language and traditions. Home portrays the tension between a sense of belonging and feeling distant from one’s cultural roots, even when trying to reconnect. The six artists featured on this floor are Anne Chen, Elvia Gonzalez, Keeanna Gray, Citlali Hernandez, Jiaqi Liu, and Evelyn Vasquez. Their works collectively illustrate what Home means to each of them—a place of comfort and nostalgia where memories and identity come together, revealing who they are proud to become.
Control symbolizes the invisible systems that shape our lives. This section of the exhibition addresses economic and social conflict. The works focus on rules and authorities that subtly influence us, keeping us in cycles of debt, pressure, and exploitation. From government systems to social structures, the works on this floor show how people are being pushed to their limits, being monitored, measured, and reduced to numbers for profit and relevance. We’re told that systems are fair if you work hard, and that success comes from hard work, but where do we go when the system that is meant to protect us becomes the one that traps us? The six artists featured in Control are Steven Cen, Yanyun Chen, Justine Cheng, Amit Dhar, Bryan Lai, and Liana Zou. They expose hidden systems of control through their works.
Shift conveys five artists’ growth and shifting perspectives. Most of the featured works demonstrate dealing with life’s challenges and adjusting how people react when confronted with difficult circumstances. Abeha Choudhry, Andri Xu Wu, and Johnny Xu Wu’s artworks illustrate how individuals respond to the world around them and find comfort amidst the challenges they face. The remaining pieces in this section reflect on the artists’ past work and how they have developed their abilities. Mary Ford and Pinky Sarway examine previous life stages of their lives and art practices to offer a personal examination of their progression.
Return captures journeys of self-reflection and love. Each artist highlights personal moments that make up who they are. The five artists featured in Return are Sabrina Bekirova, Rashel Carrillo, Lulu O’Rourke-Chisholm, Syeda Saima, and Karina Sarmiento. Each artist reflects on these moments and provides insight into their impact and what it means to them.
Gallery Location: New Media Artspace at Baruch College, Library and Information Building, 151 E. 25th Street, New York, NY 10010
Gallery Hours: The New Media Artspace is open to the CUNY community during regular library hours. Members of the public may visit the virtual exhibition on the gallery website, or contact newmediaartspace@gmail.com to arrange an in-person visit by appointment. For updated information, please check the gallery website or dial a docent at 646-312-1664.
The New Media Artspace is a teaching exhibition space in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Baruch College, CUNY. Housed in the Newman Library, the New Media Artspace showcases curated experimental media and interdisciplinary artworks by international artists, students, alumni, and faculty.
About Baruch College: Baruch College is a senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) with a total enrollment of more than 17,000 students, who represent 160 countries and speak more than 100 languages. Ranked among the top 15% of U.S. colleges and the No. 4 public regional university, Baruch College is regularly recognized as among the most ethnically diverse colleges in the country. As a public institution with a tradition of academic excellence, Baruch College offers accessibility and opportunity for students from every corner of New York City and from around the world. For more about Baruch College.
Media Contacts:
Evan Nemeroff, (646) 660-6146, evan.nemeroff@baruch.cuny.edu
Mercedes Gutierrez, (646) 660-6137, mercedes.gutierrez@baruch.cuny.edu