CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – Winthrop University College of Visual and Performing Arts students always look for ways to not just be a visible presence in the community, but to also be good collaborators.
The latest case in point: art history student Radio McAda’s exhibit “Operation: an exploration in corporeal transmutation,” which he curated for Goodyear Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The exhibit called upon the talents of McAda’s fellow art majors, dance majors and Winthrop art alumni, creating an interdisciplinary approach to the overall theme.
McAda based “Operation” off of his undergraduate research focused topics related to the body and the gaze from concepts put forth by philosophers Jean-Paul Satre, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze. Winthrop Galleries Director Mike Gentry ’08 and Fine Arts Assistant Professor Stephanie Sutton chose McAda’s concept via a competitive process.
“Once I chose the central theme for my exhibit, I sought out work that displayed transforming the human body or reconfiguring the human body,” McAda explained. “The exhibit presents the human manipulation of the corporeal in art. Artists are their own Dr. Frankenstein, and the monster is the transfiguration of the body in their artwork. The transfiguration of the body can be seen in sculpture, printmaking, drawing, dance and music.”
McAda estimates he spent approximately 150 hours researching, making frames and costumes, meeting with artists, designing promotional materials, installing the work, and much more.
While watching the show come to life in March 2025 was amazing, McAda particularly enjoyed seeing the art communities come together.
“I had alumni and undergraduates in the show and hearing their conversations was an amazing feeling,” he said. “People from multiple communities came out to support the artists, which was wonderful to see. … Community is deeply important in the role of curating and being in the art world.”
Student and alumni artists in this exhibit included: Cassi Bleitz, Rachel Burkhart ’23, Jovanna Ilić, Alia Jade, Claire Kirkley, Jason Lindsay ’22, Hannah Moore, Samuel Pach, Kenny Ray ’24, Nico Sweet ’22 and Zoe Gumangan.
About Radio McAda
McAda had previously only curated a display at the Historical Center of York County, “Haberdashery: Hats and Headwear 1830-1965,” that explored the social language of headwear. He also serves as an intern for York County’s Cultural & Heritage Museums.
“But the exhibit at Goodyear is my first time curating a gallery show,” he said. “I’ve learned from curating a gallery show that communication is extremely important and to write everything that pertains to the exhibit down.”
McAda will graduate this May and complete his internship in June. He hopes to tour graduate programs this summer and recently applied to the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF).
“My long-term goals in academia are to obtain a Ph.D. in art history focusing on contemporary art,” he said. “I will forever be in debt to art history [at Winthrop] for showing me a wonderful community that I will hopefully be in for the rest of my life.”
For more information on Winthrop’s art offerings, visit the website and/or contact Paula Garofalo, arts recruitment coordinator, at garofalopl@winthrop.edu.
