Glass Box Gallery Weekly Newsletter: New Worlds at the Susquehanna Art Museum
Alice Frank | Writer
The Susquehanna Art Museum (SAM), located in Harrisburg, PA, offers a small, but diverse gallery space filled with the work of artists from a variety of backgrounds.
The museum’s quaint spaces explore landscapes, history, and a unique amalgamation of works. From embroidery on canvas to a collection of 19th and 20th century quilts, this museum exhibits works across time and place.
SAM features a few small gallery spaces and one that is quite large called the Beverlee and Bill Lehr gallery. The gallery is currently the home of two exhibitions—THERE by Jordan Nassar and WALL POWER from the American Folk Art Museum.
Both exhibitions juxtaposing one another on each side of the gallery throws the viewer into a world of precise detail and use of color.
Nassar’s exhibition was a collection of pieces that used traditional Palestinian embroidery. He thoughtfully showcases not only his own work, but the work of many craftswomen in the West Bank, though much of his recent work was done in his New York Studio due to the current events in Palestine. His work reflects the diaspora of the Palestinian people and is emblematic of their heritage. Using traditional patterns and colors to form impressionist landscapes provokes the viewer to think deeply about the occupation of Palestinian land and the struggles its people face daily.
Nassar’s work is successful in stirring emotion out of the viewer. While his work is exquisitely crafted, the work covering the walls urges us to reach into our heart in search of empathy.
Many artists wish to evoke a certain feeling out of an audience with their work—others do it without knowing anybody will ever see their work.
WALL POWER is the exhibit directly next to Nassar’s. The exhibition featured a number of quilts from the American Folk Art Museum. Many of these quilts were made from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. The most compelling part, though? These artists are mostly unidentified.
Many of the quilts were identified as being made by an Amish person, most likely in the 1930s, however. But, it is extraordinary to think that they have no idea their work is on display in a museum, reflecting not only a piece of history, but also their culture.
Similar to Nassar, the work of these quilts took time and a level of craftsmanship (or in these cases, crafts-WOMAN-ship), to create. The miscellaneous fabrics pieced together to form a variety of unique patterns and imagery represent the creativity of a community so unfamiliar to the outside world. Being such a time-consuming craft, the massive quilts which decorated the walls of SAM once more deepen the viewer's conscious thought.
Many works of art are also considered pieces of history, but in this case, a piece of history is displayed as a work of art—and rightfully so.
The museum uses its small space to pack a powerful punch of emotion. Exploring history through art and deeper themes that produce raw emotion from the viewer makes these exhibits a truly special piece of the SAM puzzle.
In other exciting Glass Box News...
The gallery's podcast "Thinking Outside the Glass Box" is now on Spotify!
Check its latest episode featuring the artist's from our previous exhibition, Danny Finocchio and Liv Lucas!
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