Florida Atlantic University Galleries Presents a Look at Our Past, Present and Future Politics

The University Galleries in Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters will debut four online exhibitions that are united by a consideration of current and historic political issues. The collection, titled “University Galleries Presents: A Four Exhibition Look at Our Past, Present and Future Politics,” will be on view virtually from Thursday, Oct. 1 through Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. It is the first exclusively online exhibition experience produced by the University Galleries. Each online presentation will be accessible as an individual link on the University Galleries website at fau.edu/galleries.

Presented for the occasion of the current U.S. presidential election, the four exhibitions described below provide a multiplicity of historical and contemporary perspectives on the shared theme of politics:

Political Pandemonium: Presidential Pop Culture From 2008 Through 2020,  curated by Jane Caputi, Ph.D., Professor of Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, is the third iteration in a series of exhibitions featuring popular presidential campaign paraphernalia that reflects and challenges the inequitable tradition of the symbolic presidential candidate, along with the related social issues now roiling the nation. FAU faculty members Sika Dagbovie-Mullins, Ph.D., and Robert Caputi, Ph.D., collaborated with Jane Caputi as curatorial consultants on this exhibition. 

Why shouldn’t we talk about these things at the table?: A Community Based Conversation with South Florida Artists  is an online contemporary art exhibition of 15 artists residing in the South Florida community whose work varies greatly in style and media. The exhibition builds on a series of virtual studio visits with the artists and co-curators AdrienneRose Gionta and Jeanie Ambrosio, bringing together local artists from diverse backgrounds responding to the current political climate through their work.

Paul Peter Piech: Activist Prints from the 1970s and ‘80s  features selected works of Brooklyn-born artist Paul Peter Piech, who spent most of his career in Great Britain. Piech employed printmaking as an avenue for political and activist expression of the issues of the 1970s and 1980s. This exhibition is co-curated by art history students Daniela Andrade and Ashley Utley, FAU BA Studio Arts, and supervised by University Galleries director W. Rod Faulds.

“I’m Not Bad, I’m Just Drawn That Way” The American Woman in 100 Years of Ephemera  is in celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. The exhibition looks at 100 years of FAU’s Special Collections ephemera, such as postcards and advertisements, to understand how women have been depicted in our country. This exhibition is curated by art history student Marnie Melzer and supervised by Karen J. Leader Ph.D., Associate Professor of Art History. 

This four-exhibition project is managed by Sofia Honekman, a graduate student in FAU’s Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. Honekman worked closely with Caputi on the organization of the “Political Pandemonium” exhibition. A team of student designers from the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies and the Department of Visual Arts and Art History are designing websites for each exhibition. 

Preview the Exhibitions

The University Galleries Museum Education Program is continuing its programs virtually employing some content from these four “political” exhibitions, including School Partnerships with area schools and its Artist Mentorship Program with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. Ashley Utley is the Galleries 2020-21 museum education coordinator. For more information, contact autley2018@fau.edu. 

University Galleries exhibitions and programs are supported by the Isadore and Kelly Friedman University Galleries Fund; Florida Department of State Division of Cultural Affairs and Florida Council on the Arts; and the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County. Museum Education programs are made possible by the Kaye Arts Integration Endowment. For more information call 561-297-2661, email shonekman2016@fau.edu, autley2018@fau.edu, or visit fau.edu/galleries.