Challenging Borders: A GLCA Art Exchange

The exhibition catalogue published on the occasion of Challenging Borders is available for download here: Challenging Borders, a GLCA Art Exchange.

January 29 – March 15, 2019

Artists teaching within the Great Lakes Colleges Association come together for the first ever GLCA Art Exchange, an exhibition juried by select Allegheny Art Department faculty, joined by Justin Kronewetter (Professor Emeritus, Ohio Wesleyan). The exhibition explores borders, which can be geographic, national, religious, generational, environmental,  political, cultural, economic, or gender-based. Whether expressed as physical barriers or mental constructs, borders delineate the structures of our lives. The artworks on view highlight the ways that borders perpetuate systems of power, while gesturing toward possibilities of dismantling the borders that divide us.

Challenging Borders features works by Ron Abram, Kristina Bogdanov, Michael Dixon, Claudia Esslinger, Noah Fischer, Rodolfo Guzmán, Craig Hill, Lori Kella, Jim Krehbiel, Justin Kronewetter, Sarah Lindley with Amelia Katanski, Sandy de Lissovoy, Steve Nelson, Byron Rich, Keith Allyn Spencer, and Katherine Sullivan.

Select artists participating in Challenging Borders will join us in February and March for an exciting lineup of panel discussions in conversation with Allegheny faculty. All panels take place from 4:30 to 6:00 pm. Following the panels, the Art Gallery will be open from 6:00 to 6:30 PM for an informal reception and exhibition viewing. 

Tuesday, February 19th: Border Crossings features artists Rodolfo Guzmán (Earlham College), Kristina Bogdanov (Ohio Wesleyan University), and Keith Spencer (Denison University), whose work explores the impact of border crossings—migration, immigration, asylum seeking, and diaspora—on various cultural groups and communities. Individual artists present their work followed by a panel discussion moderated by Professor Brian Miller (History and International Studies, Allegheny College). This event will be held in the Campus Center, rooms 301/302. 

Tuesday, February 26th: Indigenous Geographies features Jim Krehbiel (Ohio Wesleyan University) and Sarah Lindley (Kalamazoo College), artists engaging with tensions between naturally occurring and politically motivated borders in relation to indigenous communities in the U.S. Individual artists present their work followed by a panel discussion moderated by Professor Benjamin K. Haywood (Environmental Science & Sustainability, Allegheny College). This event will be held in the Campus Center, rooms 301/302. 

Monday, March 4th: Beyond Borders features artists Noah Fischer (Kenyon College) and Byron Rich (Allegheny College). Individual artists present their work followed by a panel discussion on the political radicality of speculative fiction strategies in the arts, moderated by Professor Jen Julian (English, Allegheny College). This event will be held in the Art Gallery. 

Support for this exhibition and related programming was provided by the Great Lakes Colleges Association as part of its Global Crossroads Initiative, made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This exhibition is also supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.