“Hope Has Me: A Collaborative Exhibition Inspired by the Words and Works of Corita Kent” continues at DePree Gallery.
The exhibition portrays art as an act of rebellion against the boundaries of age, class or race that often dictate who can make art, who can learn, and ultimately whose voice prevails. It includes work by area middle school and high school students teamed with Hope students, and pieces by Kent, and is on display in the gallery of the De Pree Art Center through Sunday, Feb. 1.
“Hope Has Me: A Collaborative Exhibition Inspired by the Words and Works of Corita Kent” marks the culmination of a three-month experiment in socially-engaged art making. This past fall, Hope senior studio art and art education majors teamed up to create original works of art with after-school students at CultureWorks, a local, faith-inspired nonprofit dedicated to providing transformative art and design experiences to individuals of all backgrounds.
Corita Kent (1918-1986), world-renowned printmaker and social activist, served as the source of inspiration for the collaboration, with her “10 Rules for Students, Teachers, and Life” providing the conceptual framework for artistic production. Juxtaposed with eight original serigraphs on loan from the Corita Center in Los Angeles, California, the exhibition pays tribute to Kent’s earnest and collaborative approach to creating art, which combined faith, politics, and teaching with an overarching message of hope and justice.
Also known as Sister Mary Corita, Kent gained international fame for her vibrant serigraphs during the 1960s and 1970s. A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, she ran the Art Department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles until 1968, when she left the order and moved to Boston, Massachusetts.
Risë Wilson is director of philanthropy with the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and the founder of the Laundromat Project, a non-profit organization that brings art-making programs to laundromats in low-income neighborhoods throughout New York City. Wilson has made a career around creating positions for artists to teach, make work, and expand their professional networks. She approaches the project from the position of a grass-roots artist whose primary goal is to promote creativity in a very useful setting.
The gallery is handicapped accessible, and is open Mondays through Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The De Pree Art Center is located at 160 E. 12th Street, on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. Graves Hall is located at 263 College Ave., between 10th and 12th streets.