May is an exciting month in the arts as it marks grad show month! Make your way around different university campuses and see works by artists on the rise using this map as your guide…

Image: Cameron Kerr’s Culture in Nature, 2018 — part of the Shores exhibition at UBC’s Belkin Art Gallery (see bottom entry)

SEAMS | SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts Master of Fine Arts show features work by a handful of first-year MFA students as well as graduating MFA candidate, Krystle Coughlin. Expect to experience interdisciplinary projects that bring together installation, painting, photography, sound and video. The exhibition is part of a larger MFA spring festival, which includes a series of performances, all at SFU Woodwards. The exhibition opens May 3rd with various (ticketed) performances over the next couple of weeks.

FRI. MAY 3 | 6-9PM | ON UNTIL MAY 11 | AUDAIN GALLERY (SFU)

THE SHOW | Emily Carr University of Art & Design celebrates its 2019 graduates with their annual graduate exhibition featuring works by over 300 students. Spanning areas of visual arts, media and design, the exhibition will take over all four floors of the building. A special exhibition in the Library + Learning Commons will share some history of the University through historical photos and objects dating back to the first graduating class in 1929. Opening night sounds like a fun party with food trucks, music, a candy bar, and of course, plenty of art. If you haven’t visited the new campus yet, here’s a great reason to get yourself over there!

FRI. MAY 3 | 5-10PM | ON UNTIL MAY 19 | EMILY CARR UNIVERISTY OF ART + DESIGN

FUGAZI | A slang term used in Mafia films referring to fake diamonds, Evan Lee’s ongoing photo-based series captures tiny cubic zirconia, digitally scanned and enlarged by about 15000 per cent to mesmerizing effects. For SFU’s Teck Gallery at Harbour Centre, which overlooks the Burrard Inlet and North Shore mountains, the artist continues to explore this series with a site-specific installation, on for a year.

MAY 11, 2019-APR. 26, 2020 | TECK GALLERY

LAWRENCE PAUL YUXWELUPTUN | New work by renowned contemporary artist, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, of Coast Salish and Okanagan descent, opens on May 23rd at Macaulay & Co. Worth visiting for sure.

OPENS THURS. MAY 23 | MACAULAY & CO. FINE ART

DOG-EAR TO THE LEFT OF THE CENTREFOLD | If a Nettle Mint Jelly sculpture sounds at all intriguing, check out the current group show on at Duplex featuring work by Sharona Franklin, Luther Konadu, Erik Sjödin, and Jacobo Zambrano Rangel. Duplex is an artist-run gallery and pair of neighbouring studio spaces presenting interesting projects, performances, and one-off events.

ON UNTIL JUNE 7 | DUPLEX (alley entrance)

SHORES | And one more grad show! This exhibition sees the culmination of two years of study as part of UBC’s MFA program with work by Angela Glanzmann, Cameron Kerr, Mandana Mansouri, Ramey Newell, and Weronika Stepien. Looks like we can expect to see anything from photo-based work, video, sculpture, and stickers!

ON UNTIL JUNE 9 | BELKIN ART GALLERY, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA