Faculty art show opens at McDonough Museum of Art
August 21, 2020
The McDonough Museum of Art will present the work of 17 Department of Art faculty members in a new exhibit titled “Enigmatic Reflections” that will be open to the public beginning Friday, August 28 through Saturday, October 24.
Full- and part-time faculty members who will be featured in the exhibit include Tony Armeni, Lauren Baker, Claudia Berlinski, Dragana Crnjak, Debra DeGregorio, Joseph D'Uva, Johnathan Farris, Richard Helfrich, Kevin Hoopes, Jennifer Kirkpatrick, Sharon Koelblinger, Christine McCullough, John Guy Petruzzi, Jeff Piper, Dana Sperry, Paige Stewart, and Sara Tkac.
The exhibit will particularly focus on the research completed by Crnjak and Sperry during the faculty research leave period. During the spring of 2020, Crnjak focused her research on smaller-scale works of art that resulted in two different painting series: “Days” and “Shadows.”
“The two bodies of work are [an] accumulation of daily reflections, memories, questions, and discoveries I have filtered visually over the past few months,” Crnjak said. “While individually fragmented and allusive, both series operate as a cartography of my mind, diagraming daily interruptions and irregularities as well as repetition and patterns.”
Sperry’s portion of the exhibit will include a map display with an interactive QR code that represents his audio walk titled “The Why Here: 1877 Railroad Strike.” Located in Pittsburgh, this self-guided walk reflects the physical and intellectual connections between the largely forgotten Great Railroad Strike of 1877 and the technological and economical advancements currently taking place among big-tech corporations.
“When a society greatly alters its technology and economic models, it must also address the human consequences of such changes,” Sperry said. “As history has shown, not doing so can prove disastrous.”
A small number of the participating faculty members will present livestream gallery talks during the exhibition’s run. Crnjak will present Tuesday, September 8, at 11:00 AM; McCullough will present Tuesday, September 24, at 1:00 PM; and Baker will present Tuesday, October 6, at 2:30 PM.
The exhibition and gallery talks are free and open to the public. While visiting the museum, social distancing and face coverings are required. The exhibition will be limited to seven people at a time. Special visiting hours for vulnerable populations are available by appointment.