The University of Mary Washington Galleries will host two exhibitions: Light Works: A Century of Photography, on view in the Ridderhof Martin Gallery, and All But Ordinary, on view in the duPont Gallery. Both exhibits run from Oct. 26 through Dec. 3.
Opening receptions for both exhibits will be held on Thursday, Oct. 26, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the respective galleries, and are free and open to the public.
Light Works: A Century of Photography was organized by the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts in Kalamazoo, Michigan. From Eadweard Muybridge’s 19th-century photographic studies of animal locomotion to Richard Misrach’s contemporary chromogenic prints, Light Works spans the history of photography. The exhibit includes works by Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Curtis, Ansel Adams, Dorothea Lange, Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon and other celebrated photographers.
All But Ordinary features work by Travis Childers and Karen Fitzgerald. Born in Nashville, Childers received his master of fine arts degree from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. He has shown nationally and internationally.
“Lately I’ve been drawn to environmental concerns and our relationship with nature,” Childers said in an exhibit release. “All these thoughts and concerns have led my sculptural processes to focus on a series of work that use everyday materials to remind of us our connection and impact to nature.”
Karen Fitzgerald is an artist based in Alexandria, Virginia, who frequently exhibits throughout the U.S. Fitzgerald’s work was also chosen for inclusion in the permanent collection of the Purdue Galleries and profiled in 40 Years of Art and Community, highlighting associate artists at Alexandria’s Torpedo Factory, where her most recent public art project, For We Rise Against the Wind, will be on view until Jan. 29, 2018.
“I create art out of common, everyday things,” she said. “From discarded clothing to junk mail, I’m motivated by the context of a material— its original purpose and place in our lives as well as the many hands and ideas involved in its creation.”
University of Mary Washington Galleries are located on College Avenue on the Fredericksburg campus and are open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. The galleries are closed during University holidays and breaks. Free parking for gallery visitors is designated in the lot on College Avenue on Thornton Street. For directions and more information, call 540-654-1013 or visit www.umwgalleries.org.