The Owens Community College Department of Fine and Performing Arts is hosting Lee Fearnside and Simone Spruce, both of Toledo, as this year’s Artist in Residence.
The artists are presenting “Dissecting the Meaning of Community,” exhibits that respond to the events of 2020 that have redefined the social world.
The two bodies of work will occupy different spaces in the Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery, but the works reflect similar questions.
The exhibits question the concepts of community, the impact of events on community, and invite viewers to consider how they conceive of community.
Lee Fearnside’s “Death Never Dies” artwork mourns 27 public figures who died in 2020 with essays and poetry by 40 writers paired with relief print portraits. The public figures range from Eddie Van Halen to Ellis Marsalis Jr., George Floyd to Jim Lehrer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Kobe Bryant.
Simone Spruce’s “Out of the Dark” installation has two sections. The first section is shrouded in cloth to create a dark space as the art is illuminated individually by spotlights.
The work includes images from Spruce’s “To Serve and Protect” series. The Walter E. Terhune Art Gallery is at the Owens campus on Oregon Road in Perrysburg Township. The exhibit will be open through August 12.
