Main Gallery
January 15, 2010 through April 11, 2010

“Making It Better” tells the story of 30 artists who work within and for their respective communities. The art, coming from every corner of the state, represents a wide array of traditions such as African dance, stonewall construction, Aztec clay flutes, Pysanky eggs, contemporary blacksmith work, and Vietnamese funerary portraits. Objects, photographs, film, music and interactive stations allow visitors to experience these traditions with all their senses. Dispelling the notions that folk art is “quaint” and “something from the past” this exhibit demonstrates that although most traditional arts are rooted in centuries’ old practices; they are meeting the needs of those living in very modern times.

The exhibit includes two Rushnyky, Ukrainian ritual towels by Vera Nakonechny. Rushnyky are often embroidered with powerful symbols by women in an all-night vigil, to allow them to pray and meditate. The towel would then be used to drape over a sick person or hung on a gate to protect ill livestock.

Wooden figures by David Castano will also be on display. They represent the nine miners trapped in the QueCreek coal mine in Somerset County. He is now often commissioned to create carvings of sons and daughters serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The exhibit also features the work of POSE II, a graffiti artist. He sees graffiti as an important expression valve for those who otherwise feel they have no voice. “These artists have got something to say. They are not gonna be repressed…While graffiti has always been viewed as taking away, I, as an artist, am a contributor. I enhance, beautify, and uplift.”

Funding support comes from PicturePA, a program of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ We The People Initiative on American history.

sponsored by

*Click here to download a Powerpoint Presentation: An exhibit powerpoint ideal for middle school students through adults

*Click here to download Powerpoint Presentation: An exhibit powerpoint ideal for elementary school students

*Click here to download a PDF of links to resources on the web about Making It Better artists and their artforms

• April 11, 2010 at 3 p.m.
Short Ceremony to Dismantle the Sand Mandala
According to Buddhist practice, sand mandalas need to be respectfully returned to Mother Earth. The mandala created for the exhibit Making It Better will be ritually swept up and poured into Lake Erie. The public is invited to participate in this brief service of meditation and obtain a small quantity of sand to take home.