Current Exhibitions

Milk Tongue

Martin-Mullen Gallery
On view: January 24 - March 11, 2023
Reception: Thursday, February 2, 2023, 5-7pm
Panel Discussion: Friday, February 3, 2023, 1-2pm
Curated by Ashley Cooper and Carrie Mae Smith (SUNY Oneonta, Art Department)

Milk Tongue is a group exhibition featuring five contemporary artists: Tirtzah Bassel, Madeline Donahue, Kyrin Hobson, Rose Nestler, and Suzanne Schireson. It challenges familiar archetypes of motherhood through artworks created by women who have practiced, are practicing, or may practice mothering—the messy, painful, embarrassing, and sometimes humorous experiences of bringing new life into the world. The artists in this exhibition use motherhood as a lens to examine historical and contemporary social issues (reproductive rights, capitalism, racism, freedom) and expand our understanding of the term "motherhood."

Plus, join us for a panel discussion on Friday, February 3 at 1pm in the Martin-Mullen Gallery. Moderated by curators Ashley Cooper and Carrie Mae Smith, hear from panelists Dr. Summer Cunningham (SUNY Oneonta, Communication & Media), Dr. Sallie Han (SUNY Oneonta, Anthropology), Kyrin Hobson (artist), Suzanne Schireson (artist), and Susan Weil (Bassett Healthcare Network, Oneonta) about the topics of reproduction, motherhood, gendered expectations, and the exhibition. This program was supported by the college senate committee on public events.

Interested in learning more about this topic? Check out some suggested further reading curated by Dr. Sallie Han (SUNY Oneonta, Anthropology).

Poster design by Stephanie Mallen.
Image Credit: Suzanne Schireson, Maquette, 2021.

Art Across Campus: Literature in Translation

Project Space Gallery
On view: January 24 - February 18, 2023
Reception: Thursday, February 2, 2023, 4-6pm

Art Across Campus: Literature in Translation is the second exhibition in an annual series meant to showcase the creative output of students across campus from a diverse range of majors and focuses. Literature in Translation features work created by the students of African American Women Writers (ALIT-3086/ALS-3086, Fall 2022), Postcolonial Literature and Culture: The Americas (WLIT-2071, Fall 2022), Creolization in (Literature-ALIT-394, Spring 2022), and Postcolonial Literature and Culture: (Africa WLIT-270/ALS-270, Spring 2022) and includes paintings, drawings, poetry, sculpture, and many more unique final projects.

Poster design by Joseph Suhovsky.
Image Credit: Grae Hickman, Grace, 2022.

Black, White, & Full Color

Open Space Gallery
On view: January 24 - February 18, 2023
Reception: Thursday, February 2, 2023, 4-6pm

Black, White, & Full Color is an installation inspired by the concept of double consciousness and illustrates the questioning of societal interpretations of race and the practice of racialization through the lens of racelessness, an overview of contemporary and historical literature on the subject, and personal experience. Created by the Fall 2022 Writing About Literature (COMP-2045) class, taught by Dr. Sheena Mason (SUNY Oneonta, English), this exhibition pulls from modern literary sources like James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Paul Gilroy, and Frantz Fanon; contemporary artists like Glenn Ligon; and a critical engagement with the idea of race and practice of racialization. The students interpreted these contemporary and historical sources to engage with both the subject matter discussed in class and a historic topic that continues to be hotly debated today.