Second Floor Gallery

April 11 - June 27, 2026

 

Exhibit Statement:

 

There is a rock on the exterior ledge of my window. This rock is not simply a pile of material reducible to its smallest parts. It remains this rock as it trades atoms with its surroundings and undergoes changes in appearance. It is this rock whether I choose to look at it or cast it into a river. An object is a presence predominantly filled with something absent. An essential keystone always fails to appear. Something remains hidden or withdrawn from us. What refuses to surface might be considered an object’s inwardness.

 

Legibility is the degree of ease with which experiences, signs, and symbols convey meaning based on their appearance. The capacity for something to communicate hinges on its visibility, though a visible object is not necessarily a legible one. Access is mistaken for comprehension. The image exceeds its presentation. I give extended attention to materials and situations concealed by their commonness and acute specificity. Plastic bags against the curb are like this, or when the wind blows and one leaf on a branch flickers faster than the others. The particular and the minor become uncanny under sustained attention. They occupy a field of experience that is barely there, fragile, and resistant to translation beyond the scale of fixed vision. In both looking and making, I search for ways to describe this ambiguous space.

 

My days are centered upon observation, description, collection, and contraction. I notice something somewhere. I gather materials from that location. I try to describe the encounter through written passages and diagrams. The object starts here, as text. Making becomes a way to witness the translation of experience from language into something wordless. The resulting object is a document of loss. 

 

Worlds are assembled from partial appearances and substitutions. I am constantly wondering about the boundaries of things. The activity and space of painting is an arrow that points elsewhere, but somehow always encircles itself. 

West Gallery

January - December 30, 2027

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Curators Statement:

"Know thyself." The ancient words carved at Delphi remain one of humanity’s most enduring calls. Not a search for distant lands or treasures, but a voyage inward, into the labyrinth of consciousness. This exhibition, drawn from the museum’s collection, brings together works that reflect the timeless human quest for identity, authenticity, and purpose. It is a journey as old as humanity itself, told through myths and oral traditions, carried forward in poems and music, painted in symbols and abstractions, and reimagined across generations.

 

Art has always served as a threshold to self-understanding. It does not strike with certainty but invites reflection. Line, shape, color, rhythm, harmony, and contrast, the very elements and principles of art, become metaphors for the human condition: a line tracing the path of life, light and shadow mirroring the psyche’s dualities, harmony and dissonance echoing our inner struggles and resolutions. The processes of creation; layering, erasure, juxtaposition, repetition; enact the very work of becoming, revealing the unfinished nature of identity itself.

 

To know oneself is to wrestle with shadow and light, with the masks we present and the truths we conceal. Philosophers and psychologists remind us that the self is not fixed, but relational, formed in dialogue with others, with nature, and with the cosmos. Yet in the digital age, this pursuit of self-knowledge is increasingly shadowed by the algorithmic mirror. Digital systems   amplify our unacknowledged shadows, inflating fear, envy, and outrage, while curating fragile personae hungry for validation. What emerges is an “algorithmic self,” curated but hollow, driven by data yet disconnected from authenticity.

 

The objects gathered here resist such algorithmic reductions. They reclaim art as a vessel of  wisdom, insisting on the power of direct encounter with material, image, and form. In their presence, we are asked to pause, to reflect, and to listen to remember that wisdom begins not with endless consumption but with stillness, attention, and creativity. Out of silence and longing comes the declaration: “I am here”. This is not only a statement of existence but of connection, a reminder that to know oneself is to locate our being within a larger whole of humanity, nature, and the visible and invisible universe.

 

To know thyself is not a solitary act. It is a call to growth, humility, and integration, weaving together the intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual dimensions of being. It is an affirmation of authenticity and a return to love, hope, and truth. This exhibition invites you into that labyrinth, into a place of mirrors and shadows, of questions and revelations to confront the most enduring question of all time: Who are you? And perhaps, in the quiet between image and reflection, to find the courage to answer; “I am here.”

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East Gallery

May 2 - July 18, 2026

 

The Collective is a local group of artists who gather on the third Saturday of each month at 9:00 a.m. at the museum. What began four years ago as a small meeting of a few artists has grown into a regular circle of twelve to fourteen participants who come together to share ideas, conversation, and the work taking shape in their studios.

 

This exhibition marks the first time the Collective has presented their work together publicly. It offers an opportunity to connect with the community and share the creative energy that has developed through years of conversation, encouragement, and exploration.

 

Artists often work in solitude. The studio can be an isolated place where the primary opponent is the blank canvas and the loudest audience may be the voices of past teachers, critics, and our own self-doubt. While creativity thrives in quiet focus, artists also need connection. Throughout  history, artists have formed groups to gather with others who think, observe, and question the world in imaginative ways.

 

The Collective was created to fill a void in the local visual arts community by providing consistent time and space for artists to meet, socialize, and share what they are creating. For some members, the group serves as motivation to return to the studio and continue the work. For others, it is simply a place to make connections with people who understand the creative process.

 

When artists gather, inspiration moves freely. Ideas are exchanged, techniques discussed, and new materials discovered. Conversations become small creative laboratories where media, philosophy, and experimentation are explored. Each participant brings different interests and     perspectives, and the dialogue itself becomes a source of energy and momentum.

 

The Collective is not defined by a single style or artistic movement. Instead, it reflects the diverse voices of its members and the individual ways they interpret the world around them. The work   presented here represents a range of materials, ideas, and approaches shaped by personal       curiosity and expression.

 

What unites the artists is the act of gathering. Through conversation and shared experience, the Collective has become a hub for artists in the region, a place to exchange ideas and reflect on what it means to create art in the Midwest today.

 

In many ways, the Collective functions as a fueling station. Artists arrive with questions, works in progress, and new discoveries. They leave reenergized, returning to their studios to continue the ongoing process of exploration and expression.

 

This exhibition is both a reflection of that shared journey and an invitation for the public to experience the work that has grown from it.