A trio of Slippery Rock University faculty members - Theresa Antonellis, instructor of art and director of the Martha Gault Art Gallery; Ursula Payne, professor of dance and director of SRU's Frederick Douglass Institute; and Cindy Lacom, professor of interdisciplinary programs and director of the gender studies program - have collaborated on a new art project at the University, "Face Diversity, Foster Inclusion." The project features 3 feet by 5 feet portraits of University community members that have been hung on external walls of various campus buildings. "The exhibit reflects our message that while SRU values inclusion, we can do more," said Lacom. "Though the art is intentionally ephemeral, the portraits will decay over time, the message is not. Portraits have a hegemonic history and have largely belonged in the domain of the most privileged. Here's an opportunity to reframe that picture. We invited people who are too often left out, marginalized or tokenized to participate and, in doing so, to transform messages of personal identity into works of art." The project will be on display for a three-week period before concluding with a November exhibit in the Martha Gault Art Gallery.
