During the worst, pre-vaccine days of the COVID-19 pandemic, nature became a place of refuge for many. Walking, hiking, and exploring got people out of their homes and into the fresh air, where they could feel safe breathing, and even talking with friends.

This fall, Ursuline College’s Wasmer Gallery will collaborate with the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes to present a two-site exhibit that will explore themes of nature as refuge, as well as unintended consequences of our use of materials and their impact on the earth.

The Wasmer Gallery exhibit ReFuge: The Last Days of Wonder opens Friday, October 22, as an interactive, immersive art experience. Conceived and curated by Wasmer Gallery Director Anna Arnold, ReFuge invites visitors to explore gallery space that has been transformed into a surreal fantasy forest created by three invited installation and mixed media artists from Cuyahoga County who will use recycled materials.

“We’ll celebrate nature as a place to take a break and explore, but also challenge our community to have broader awareness about the importance of greenspaces, environmental justice, and consumer impact,” Arnold said. “Visitors will enter an organic environment made of reused materials that will be a place of exploration, meditation, and healing.”

The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes will host a second exhibit, simultaneously, featuring two-dimensional work by artists who use recycled materials. Learn more at shakerlakes.org.

Arnold invited artists to create installations including an engaging eight-foot-tall Mother Nature figure created from recycled cardboard; a lighted, running indoor fountain; and a pair of elegant, patchwork fabric wings that reach out from the wall with a gentle embrace. Arnold will join the artists to create a paper flower wall.

Featured artists are Joyce Morrow Jones, Jacques Payne Jackson, Claudio Orso, and Ron Shelton. Work in this exhibit is site-specific.

Both Ursuline College and the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes will present public programming related to the exhibits. The Nature Center programs may include art-making activities using recycled materials and group night hikes that challenge one’s sense of safety in nature.

ReFuge: The Last Days of Wonder is funded by Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and the Ohio Arts Council. All exhibits at Ursuline College’s Wasmer Gallery and at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes are free and open to the public.

Beginning with a 7:00pm opening reception on Friday, October 22, ReFuge will be on view through Friday, January 28, 2022. The Gallery is open from noon to 5:00pm Tuesdays Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Check the website for any changes in hours.

 

REFUGE: THE LAST DAYS OF WONDER | OCTOBER 22–JANUARY 28, 2022
RECEPTION 7PM FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22

 

FLORENCE O’DONNELL
WASMER GALLERY
URSULINE COLLEGE
2550 Lander Road
Pepper Pike, Ohio 44124
Ursuline.edu/wasmergallery
aarnold@ursuline.edu
440.646.8121