A new exhibition at Hollins University’s Eleanor D. Wilson Museum is shining the spotlight on concerns related to race, gender, citizenship, culture wars, and the abuse of power.
Images of Social Justice from the Segura Arts Studio, which is on display at the Wilson Museum from September 13 through December 9, features 37 prints created by 17 visiting artists who in their own style tackle either human, animal, or land rights issues.
Joe Segura, who has dedicated his life’s work to working with and promoting artists from underrepresented cultural groups, founded the Segura Publishing Company in 1981 in Tempe, Arizona. He was drawn to marginalized artists: women, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans. In 2013, the University of Notre Dame invited him to move his workshop to South Bend, Indiana. Under a new name, Segura Arts Studio, the master printer and publisher dovetailed the studio’s activities with those of academic departments at Notre Dame. He launched a program called “Social Justice in the Visual Arts” that engages incoming students in print workshop activities, including the opportunity to learn collaborative process and meet visiting artists.
Most of the prints in the Wilson Museum exhibition have been created since the move to Indiana. These include:
- A black and white lino-cut by Elizabeth Catlett titled Mimi
- Sue Coe’s lithography titled La Frontera
- Luis Jiminez’s lithograph titled Entre la Puta y Muerta
- Mixed media works that pair image and text by Luis Gonzales Palma
- Black and white photogravures by Graciela Dicochea
The first artist to visit the new space in 2013 was Claudia Bernardi. Earlier that year, the International Committee of the Red Cross asked her to conduct and facilitate a collaborative community-based project with youth affected by violence. Later, she was invited to Segura Arts Studio to create a suite of prints. The series, Palabras de Arena/Words of Sand, was inspired by stories she heard and observations she made while working with these children and their community.
Bernardi will discuss how her human rights work informs her creative art work on Wednesday, September 26, at 6 p.m. in the Richard Wetherill Visual Arts Center Auditorium. An opening reception for Images of Social Justice from the Segura Arts Studio will follow.
The Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins University is open Tuesday – Sunday, noon – 5 p.m., and Thursdays, noon – 8 p.m. Admission is always free.
Photo caption: Claudia Bernardi, one of the artists whose work is featured in Images of Social Justice, speaks at the Wilson Museum on September 26.
