Crossing the Line: Selections from the Grinnell College Art Collection

The Faulconer Gallery will open a new exhibition at the start of second semester. "Crossing the Line" features more than 50 works from the college's art collection — prints, paintings, drawings, maps, books, photographs and objets d'art, which connect to current issues of global discourse and reveal lines crossed and repercussions dealt.

"This exhibition is intended to bring up current global issues that are identified by works in the collection," Daniel Strong, associate director of Faulconer Gallery and curator of exhibitions, explains. "'Crossing the Line' is widely varied in media and visually very stimulating, illustrating issues such as migration and immigration, incarceration and revolution, and how these issues reshape identities.

"These are issues in the news, and the collection relates to them. The art collection is here to be instructive and to make people think, not just look at or soothe, but to edify and question."

Grinnell College faculty, students and staff will write some of the texts that will accompany works in the exhibition, lending their expertise and personal experience to an understanding of the art. They will be on hand for an open conversation event on Thursday, Feb. 23, to interact with the the public offering information and points of view about each work.

Director of Faulconer Gallery Lesley Wright says many of the works in "Crossing the Line" are recent acquisitions, some as recent as December, purchased from the college's endowed funds.

"The Grinnell College Art Collection houses historically and culturally rich works of social and political commentary from many periods and media," she adds. "The collection in general deals with social issues, and we can build different exhibitions in different contexts. 'Crossing the Line,' for example, is offered in conjunction with 'Rethinking Global Cultures,' a yearlong project sponsored by the college's Center for the Humanities."

Faulconer Gallery will host a series of free, public events related to the exhibition:

• 20 Minutes@11, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 11 a.m., with Daniel Strong, associate director and curator of exhibitions. He will speak about Damon Davis' "All Hands on Deck," a work included in "Crossing the Line" that was created during the Ferguson, Mo., protests following the death of Michael Brown.
• Artists@Grinnell, Thursday, Feb. 9, 4 p.m., with Haitian-born artist and curator Edouard Duval-Carrié, who incorporates religious traditions and the history of Haiti, the Caribbean and Florida, into his art with a wide range of images.
• Panel: "Crossing the Line" and Identity, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 4 p.m., with faculty panelists who will explore, through professional and personal experience, how crossing a line can reshape an identity or create multiple identities. Moderated by Caleb Elfenbein, associate professor of history and religious studies; director, Center for the Humanities.
• "Crossing the Line:" An Open Conversation, Thursday, Feb. 23, 4 p.m., with selected faculty, staff and students stationed by a work of art of their choice. The audience will move among them for conversations from both personal and professional points of view.
• Community Day, Saturday, Feb. 25, 1:30 – 3 p.m. Participants of all ages are welcome to tour the exhibitions and enjoy a variety of hands-on activities and refreshments.
• Concert: Piano by Royce Wolf, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 11 a.m. Wolf, associate professor of mathematics and statistics, will play selections by Mendelssohn, Rzweski, Ives and Mozart.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week and admission is free. The Faulconer Gallery is in the Bucksbaum Center for the Arts, 1108 Park St., Grinnell. For more information about the exhibitions and related programs, call 641-269-4660.

Grinnell College welcomes the participation of people with disabilities. Information on parking and accessibility is available on the college website. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations at 641-269-3235 or calendar@grinnell.edu.

The college also welcomes the presence of minors at all age-appropriate public events and for informal visits, with the understanding that a parent, legal guardian, or other responsible adult assumes full responsibility for their child's safety and behavior during such visits or events. In these cases the college expects that an adult responsible for the visiting child takes measures to ensure the child's safety and sees that the child complies with directions of college personnel. Grinnell College is not responsible for supervision of minors on campus.