MAIN GALLERY:
I Happen to Be Rock
May 8th – 31st, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, May 8th, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Brooklyn, NY - Ortega y Gasset Projects is pleased to announce I Happen to Be Rock, a group exhibition by the 2026 Cornell MFA candidates in Creative Visual Arts. The exhibition will remain on view May 8–31, 2026 at Ortega y Gasset Projects in Brooklyn, New York. The exhibition will be open on weekends May 9–10, 16–17, 23–24, and 30-31 from 1 to 6 pm.

I Happen to be Rock is a culminating exhibition featuring the work of Marissa Cote, Michael Morgan, Sheila Novak, Onome Olotu, Faye Pamintuan, Carla Rangel García, and Yun Hsiang Wang. Across painting, sculpture, printmaking, installation, writing, and expanded material practices, the exhibition gathers seven artists whose work insists on persistence, relation, transformation, and becoming. The title suggests contingency and endurance; something accidental and elemental, arrived at and borne through. It evokes a condition of having taken form under pressure, of becoming matter, presence, witness.

Featuring works by graduating artists in Cornell University’s M.F.A. in Creative Visual Arts, I Happen to Be Rock brings together distinct practices that remain in dynamic conversation with one another. Material curiosity and conceptual range shape the exhibition, as the artists move through questions of identity, collectivity, visibility, repair, queer construction, memory, and the horizon of what might still be possible. The exhibition is funded in part by Cornell Council for the Arts. 

Support the Future of OyG Projects with a Monthly Gift

Dear OyG Community,

Like many artist-run spaces, OyG Projects is navigating a challenging financial year. Since COVID, we've worked tirelessly to keep our doors open — drawing down our emergency reserves and steadily repaying an SBA loan that helped sustain us during the most uncertain times. While we’ve been fortunate to receive support in the past from grant makers, including the NEA, those sources are increasingly unpredictable in today’s rapidly shifting funding landscape.

Because of these challenges, we are currently faced with a $25,000 deficit for 2025. We must raise these funds in order to complete this year's programming, and to begin planning for our near future.

We are asking you to help sustain it

The most impactful way you can contribute is by becoming a monthly donor with a recurring gift of $5, $10, $25 or more a month.

We hope you will help us meet a tangible short-term goal:
75 monthly donors by the end of Summer. 

Recurring gifts provide us with the steady support we need to plan ahead, produce ambitious exhibitions, and keep our programs free and accessible to all.

We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done: providing a platform that has launched the careers of countless artists and bringing meaningful, challenging, and joyful exhibitions to our community. With your help, we can continue this vital work — and grow it.

 At OyG, we believe in building space for experimentation, dialogue, and community — especially for artists who have historically been excluded from mainstream platforms. Our artist-run model prioritizes innovation and quality over commercial outcomes, offering artists a rare opportunity to take risks and grow.

Thank you for 12 years of OyGoodness!

OyG Projects 

Clare Britt
Eric Hibit
Annamariah Knox
Xingze Li
Leeza Meksin
Nickola Pottinger
Adam Liam Rose
Zahar Vaks
Lauren Whearty