To begin the year, the Visual Art and Design Department made a request to all faculty and staff: to submit photo highlights from their summer. The photo initiative culminated into the first Swartley Gallery exhibit of the year, the #AllStaff Summer Rewind: A Community Exhibit. The showcase was a lovely moment for community members across the divisions to connect with each other and bring in the fall season.
The community-sharing continued but with a spotlight on faculty members John McCabe and Chris Kelly! The two presented a joint photography exhibit, “New York: Then and Now” which by its name took a look at the history of New York through their lens. Photos were accompanied by captions of the time and place they were taken, bringing to life the past and present.
Finally, D-E invited photographer and artist Sylvie Harris and their work “Lineage of Labor” to the Swartley Gallery. Sylvie is a Brooklyn-based artist and this particular body of work looks at challenging patriarchy and celebrating the craft in what would be considered “domestic work.” Large handwoven tapestries, quilts, and garments hung across the gallery with select photographs both displayed separately and woven into the fiber art pieces. Sylvie’s work moved us to think about what is considered labor and art as it relates to gender and for that we are grateful.
