In response to Wilkinson College’s 2024 Engaging the World Initiative, Leading the Conversation on Gender and Sexuality, students worked collaboratively to curate a new exhibition of Escalette Collection artwork  titled Echoes in the Mirror. The exhibition is located in the first floor hallway in Roosevelt Hall and will be on display until November 2025.

The student-curators of Echoes in the Mirror were part of Fiona Shen’s First Year Foundation class, a course where students learn critical thinking skills by working hands-on with the Escalette Collection. Echoes in the Mirror is the culmination of the research, writing, and planning done throughout the semester. Through this project, students experienced first hand every stage of creating an exhibition: from choosing the theme and title, selecting the artwork, writing the didactic labels, and even assisting with the installation of the artwork. Chrystal Han (Studio Art ’28) describes some of the challenges the class had to work collaboratively to solve, “During these [planning] meetings, it took [the class] a while to agree on the theme we wanted as it could not be too general or exclusionary. This experience helped me to see how much thought must be put into connecting individual works together within a theme. All our labels had to describe each piece and the artist’s intentions for the piece while also connecting to our theme for the exhibition.”

Image caption: students working together with the Escalette Collection art handler to learn the basics of art installation and assist with the hanging of artwork in Echoes in the Mirror. 

While the exhibition was a collaborative effort, the students were also given the opportunity to put their individual stamps on key aspects of the show. Some of the students had special roles that played to their interests and majors. Lian Alba (Creative Writing ’28), for instance, designed take-away stickers and learned how to print them using the Design/Creative/Innovate Lab. “When it came time to start choosing artworks, a theme, and a title for our exhibition, I was very excited. Listening to my peer’s great ideas inspired me to contribute to the exhibition and create stickers. From this I learned how to make and print stickers… it was very exciting to see them once they came out of the printer.”

Echoes in the Mirror takes the theme of gender and sexuality to explore how art engages with the human body. Specifically, the students were interested in how expectations surrounding the body can be performed or abandoned in the pursuit of identity and self. Reflecting on ideas of dysphoria (uneasiness or discomfort with one’s body) and its antonym, euphoria, the students ask visitors to think about the relationship they have with the image in the mirror.

Dehusa Lapa posing with an Untitled painting by Inna Jane Ray.

Some of the works in the exhibition document the artists’ own experience of coming to accept their bodies and themselves. Dehusa Lapa (Creative Writing ’28) saw this powerful moment in Inna Jane Ray‘s art, noticing how “the layers of vulnerability reveal themselves as even deeper when we understand Ray’s experience with healing and reclaiming her identity. Whenever I glance at it, I am reminded that despite the pain held in one’s physical form, it is possible to find strength, beauty and a sense of belonging within oneself.”

The students and the Escalette Collection staff encourage you to visit the exhibition in Roosevelt Hall. To schedule a tour, please visit https://chapmanu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4GixJX01Tuq9tPL.

“[The exhibition project] has improved my ability to think critically, work collaboratively, and push my creative notions. I am so proud of the exhibition we have worked to curate, and I cannot wait to display it in Roosevelt Hall for others to enjoy!” – Maya Hawks

We invite you to explore all the works in the Escalette Collection by visiting our eMuseum. 

Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is the proud home of the Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art. The Escalette Collection exists to inspire critical thinking, foster interdisciplinary discovery, and strengthen bonds with the community. Beyond its role in curating art in public spaces, the Escalette is a learning laboratory that offers diverse opportunities for student and engagement and research, and involvement with the wider community. The collection is free and open to the public to view.