Art in the Libraries Exhibits for Summer 2024

Mai We Care: adaptive fashion show

Downtown Library Floor 2, April - August 2024

WVU Runway of Dreams presents a display showcasing different adaptive clothing to increase awareness of accessible fashion featuring Mai We Care adaptive fashion.

"Inspired by our mothers, Maria and Isa (MA+I) , who had cancer and taught us that with LOVE we can find the blessing in everything, we discovered that adaptive, comfortable, and fashionable clothing had the potential to help any person feel loved while they look and feel better.

We created MAI We Care for the BRAVE and BEAUTIFUL, designing our clothing line based on our favorite pieces, while adapting them to everyone’s journey.

When we first imagined our clothing line in 2017, we had our moms during chemo in our minds.  Along the way, we have helped many dress and undress after an arm or elbow surgery, eased a nurse´s day with a geriatric or immobilized patient, made someone's daily activities easier despite a disability, and even helped a friend or family member give comfort and care to a loved one.

Our inspiration is to help anyone with a physical condition to dress with dignity and feel better. Our goal is to make them feel as comfortable and good as they feel in their own clothes."

WVU Runway of Dreams Foundation is a non-profit organization that works toward a future of inclusion, acceptance, and opportunity in the fashion industry for people with disabilities. Founded on the basis that clothing is a basic human need, the Foundation develops, delivers, and supports programs and events that celebrate people's differences, break down stereotypes, highlight the need for mainstream adaptive apparel, and showcase people with disabilities in fashion.

Paintings by Max Hayslette

Downtown Campus Library (6th floor)

Included in this exhibit are 18 recent paintings that show two sides of Max Hayslette— the romantic landscape painter, and the abstract expressionist. While the two styles may seem disparate, for Hayslette they are essentially the same, both resulting from the same intellectual process. Max Hayslette's generous gift of these paintings to the West Virginia Regional History Center and WVU students, faculty and staff makes this exhibit possible.

Photography by Betty Rivard

The West Virginia University Libraries purchased 69 of Rivard's photographs in 2015. Most of the photographs hang in a corridor leading to staff work areas in the Wise Library, a part of the Downtown Campus Library. Some of the photos grace work spaces at all three of the WVU Libraries: Downtown, Evansdale, and Health Sciences. While Rivard's subjects include landscapes, streetscapes, architecture, and community life, most of those in the University Libraries are landscapes.