January 10, 2025
WCU’s Dept. of Art & Design to Exhibit Passages: An Installation in Progress January 21 – March 30
Critically Acclaimed Artist and Historian Cheryl Harper to Give Artist Lecture on January 30 at 1 p.m.
WEST CHESTER, PA — From January 21 – March 30, 2025, West Chester University will exhibit Cheryl Harper’s Passages: An Installation in Progress (Passages) in the John H. Baker Gallery, E.O. Bull Center for the Arts, 2 E. Rosewood Ave., West Chester. The exhibit is FREE and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays by appointment only. Information at artinfo@wcupa.edu or call WCU’s Dept. of Art + Design at 610.436.2872.
Harper is a critically acclaimed Philadelphia-based artist and historian. Ms. Harper
will give a lecture in the Baker Gallery on Thursday, January 30th, at 1:00 pm, followed
by a question and answer session and an artist reception.
Passages explores the intersectionality of Harper’s family’s history of Holocaust loss and her husband’s family history of enslaving in the American South. The site-specific installation debuted at the Maier Museum of Art in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 2020, and explores themes of heritage, identity, persecution, and privilege.
Harper says, “Anti-Semitism and bigotry are on the rise around the world, and I feel
it is urgent that we communicate and consider the histories of the oppressed and oppressors
from multiple points of view. I am a Jewish woman who lost extended family in the
Holocaust and who married a direct descendant of a Southern plantation family that
owned other people. Passages is an evolving project that explores the dual nature of my family history. I contrast
the material legacy left by my husband’s family, who as slave owners were oppressors,
with the items passed down by my family, who as Jews living in Eastern Europe in the
twentieth century were among the oppressed. The purpose of my project is to bring
attention to the feelings of loss that are still pervasive among Jews and African
Americans as a result of their persecution and to foster discussion and understanding.”
Harper’s installation incorporates 10-foot-high hand-printed wallpaper, embellished wedding dresses, family heirlooms, and found artifacts. The exhibit continues to evolve and grow as Harper finds more to include through her research on her family. This particular iteration of the project is the result of a collaboration between Harper and West Chester professors David Jones and Catharine Wallace.
Chair of WCU’s Dept. of Art & Design David Jones says, “WCU’s Dept of Art + Design is increasingly committed to utilizing our exhibition spaces to provoke thoughtfulness and foster conversation among our students, faculty, and the public. Accordingly, we are privileged to host Ms. Harper’s installation. The intersectionality of themes unique to this project will enable critical discussions about legacy, identity, and equity. Furthermore, Ms. Harper’s work is uniquely positioned to acquire evolving connotations with respect to contemporary geopolitical and social challenges, eliciting a series of ongoing, dynamic conversations.”
Catharine Wallace adds, “Harper presents a myriad of ways we inherit our ancestors’
material, emotional, and societal legacies. While the exhibition challenges us with
the weight of generational grief and a disquieting contrast in power and privilege,
it also demonstrates art’s capacity to forge a path from loss to remembrance. It is
through memory and an acknowledgment of the past, Passages argues, that we have hope for creating a better future.”
Cheryl Harper lives in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Trained as a printmaker, her earlier work focused primarily on large one-of-a-kind woodcuts. However, after several years she decided to bring her graphic and narrative sensibility to sculpture, including installation. Harper’s studio and curatorial work have been well-received by both critics and the public. Harper holds a Master's in Art History from Temple University and an M.F.A. from the University of Delaware. Harper’s many solo exhibitions include The Maier Museum at Randolph College (Virginia), Drew University (New Jersey), the InLiquid Gallery in the Crane Building (Philadelphia), Elizabethtown College, Lockhaven University, and the James Oliver Gallery in Philadelphia. She can be found at cherylharper.com