Performances & Exhibits Schedule

Passages: Tales of the Snow Migrant

Claudia Esslinger

Burton D. Morgan Gallery
September 3 – December 6, 2024

Artist Talk: September 10, 4 p.m.

Exploring the connection between migration and a changing climate, the dreamlike narrative of a character navigating a frozen but melting world appears in a projection. A simple kayak is her insufficient transportation. Skeletal boats hang above sandbags that hug the border walls as an animated life preserver floats around the room.

This work combines concerns about the ever-present climate emergency with a focus on the human cost of that devastation. Through it Esslinger hopes we will consider the human migrant driven by climate change with empathy and action. What can we do to address this increasingly urgent problem?

This project was prompted by two journeys taken by the artist. The first was to southern Chile, where the artist had the opportunity as an artist-in-residence to explore an ecological preserve and also fly over Cape Horn. Esslinger worked in the presence of ecologists and climatologists, who left southern Chile for expeditions to Antarctica. They spoke often about the melting glaciers that were causing water levels around the earth to rise. The other sojourn was a three month stay in Italy. Envisioning the migrant path through southern Italy into Europe was a daily reality, as migrants sold wares on the streets. Stories of deaths during crossings of the Mediterranean were prevalent in the news.

Performer Balinda Craig-Quijada is Professor of Dance at Kenyon College. Music is by Charlotte Malin, an independent composer based in Northampton, Massachusetts. Funding for this exhibition generously provided by the Julia Shoolroy Halloran Endowed Fund.

Image: Claudia Esslinger, Passages: Tales of the Snow Migrant (installation view), 2024. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Our Disappearing Darkness: A Meditation on Losing the Night

MJ Sharp

Sussel Gallery
September 3 – December 6, 2024

Artist Talk: September 17, 4 p.m.

What have we lost by our disconnection from the deep enveloping nocturnal dark and the starry skies that fueled the world’s mythologies?

For most of human history, night was a profound experience, untouched by artificial light. Today, true darkness is a rare luxury. Light pollution obscures the stars and disrupts our own creaturely adaptation to night.

Photographer MJ Sharp delved into this question while exploring the prehistoric landscapes of Cornwall, England—a region known for its preservation of dark skies and a dense concentration of ancient stone structures. Archaeological evidence suggests these sites were visited at night or in the twilight of dusk and dawn.

Sharp’s images provoke us to rethink our relationship with light, encouraging us to step away from the ever-present glow of the modern world and rekindle our ancient bond with the night sky.

Funding for this exhibition generously provided by the Julia Shoolroy Halloran Endowed Fund.

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