Solomon Gallery to welcome artist Lauren Davies for guest exhibition

YSU’s Department of Art will welcome guest artist Lauren Davies to campus as she exhibits in the Judith Rae Solomon Gallery beginning Monday, October 13, through Friday, November 21.

After receiving an M.F.A. from the San Franscisco Art Institute, Davies spent decades in California as both an artist and non-profit gallery director before relocating to Cleveland and her Rust Belt roots. Over the past 10 years this geographic relocation radically expanded her approach to artmaking, leading her to dive into combining historical research into new and experimental works that mesh photography with sculpture and textiles.

Davies’ recent projects include “Industry Unraveled,” a photo and textile study of abandoned manufacturing sites throughout the Rust Belt, and “Incarceration: Solitary Objects,” a photo and textile collection that investigated a condemned prison in Ohio.

Davies is a recipient of the Joan Mitchell Emerging Artist Award, in addition to multiple Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards. Her work has been presented at Transformer Station, SHEF Projects, the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, the Ohio Art Counsil’s Riffe Gallery, the Fuller Craft Museum, the Jack Fischer Gallery, and the Rust Belt Biennial.

She was an artist-in-resident at Yaddo in 2024, at the Wurlitzer Foundation in 2023, and at the Joan Mitchell Center in 2022. She has also held residencies at MASSMoCA, the California Academy of Sciences, the Santa Fe Art Institute, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program.

Entry to this exhibit is free and open to the public. Parking is available in the Wick Avenue Deck (M30) for a $5 fee payable in cash only. The Judith Rae Solomon Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.