Art in the Libraries Exhibits for Spring 2024

After the Plague Years: A Public History Students Exhibit
Downtown Library, 6th FloorSept 2023 - May 2024

Students in WVU History Professor Jennifer Thornton's history classes 2022-23 researched, developed, and designed this exhibit featuring plagues throughout history. Fifteen plagues are highlighted from the Plague of Athens to the Black Death, the Russian Bubonic Plague, Hong Kong Flu, AIDS and many more with art and educational content. The exhibit will be on view through spring of 2024.

Banned Books: A History of Censorship

WVU Downtown Library Spiral Staircase
December 2023-July 2024

Caroline Blumish, a WVU Professional Writing student graduating in December 2023, curated this exhibit on the history of banned books in the United States. The exhibit explores the pervasive practice of literary censorship, emphasizing its attempts to silence voices, perspectives, and records of historic events. Blumish's showcase delves into the evolution of censorship, from early suppression efforts to contemporary challenges, urging viewers to contemplate the delicate balance between societal values and the fundamental principles of free speech. The exhibit highlights the resilience of writers and encourages critical discussions on the broader implications of stifling diverse voices in a democratic society.

Seeing Through Lines, an exhibition of drawings by Boyd Carr

Downtown Library, Floor 4, Spring 2024

This exhibition includes a curated selection of line drawings by the artist, poet and philosopher Boyd Carr, notably known for his iconic line drawing of a sardonic hillbilly named O Hector Lee in The West Virginia Hillybilly, a weekly paper published in Richwood, West Virginia, throughout the 1970s and 80s. There will be a selection of his other creative work on view as well.

Insect Origami: Creative Arts Meet Biological and Physical Sciences

Curated by 2023 Art in the Libraries Faculty Exhibit Awardee Yong- Lak Park, Professor of Entomology, Davis College
September 2023-May 2024, WVU Downtown Library Room 1020

Origami is an art form that has captivated people for generations. It is a Japanese word meaning folding paper, and it is a challenging art and craft that involves transforming square sheets of paper into specific objects by folding and creasing. Among origami artists, insect models are the most challenging because their complex morphological features are difficult to reproduce from single, square sheets of paper. Dr. Yong-Lak Park (Professor of Entomology) has been practicing, demonstrating, and developing origami insects for the past 35 years. In the exhibit, Dr. Park displays over 20 origami models and demonstrates the art of insect origami through hands-on activities. This exhibit is not just for those interested in the sciences; it is for anyone interested in creative arts, designs, textiles, and STEM education. 

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.