Gettysburg College’s Schmucker Art Gallery has announced a series of shows during 2023-24:
Drawing on the Susquehanna (Main Gallery) September 6 – December 8, 2023
September 13, opening reception
October 27, Multi-disciplinary panel discussion, 5 p.m.
Curated by Rob Evans, the exhibition Drawing on the Susquehanna features eighteenth- and nineteenth-century prints, paintings, books, and objects that examine the history and significance of the Susquehanna River on art and culture. While artists were interested in presenting the economic opportunities of the river and the surrounding environment for settlement and expansion, they also were drawn to the picturesque beauty of the landscape, with rolling hills and majestic trees cradling the bends and curves of the water.
Several works on display provide evidence of the larger commercial market for these images, as the landscapes appeared in maps, books, portfolios, journals, magazines, newspapers, and decorated china. The artists and publishers helped to “sell” the Susquehanna, making it one of the most well-known rivers worldwide along with its sister east coast river, the Hudson. While some of the images focus on seemingly “wild,” pristine landscapes, many of the depictions celebrate new infrastructure in the environment, such as bridges, ferries, and railroad tracks. Ultimately, the river inspired artists, writers, and poets, but the place also reflects a complicated history and more nuanced sense of place.
Additional interpretation of these works of art, particularly the history and perspectives of Indigenous peoples, is provided by Hannah Vaccaro ’24, Kolbe Summer Scholar, Gettysburg College, under the direction of Prof. Stephanie Sellers, English, Native American Studies, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Reading Mary Margaret Stewart (Project Space)
Curated by Miriam Glatfelter ‘24
September 6 – November 11, 2023
Gallery Talk, at Penn Hall Lyceum: September 13, 5pm, with reception to follow until 7pm
Curated by Miriam Glatfelter ’24, the inaugural Susan ’77 and Joseph Biernat ‘75 Intern, this exhibition examines the literary themes in works of art from the collection of Mary Margaret Stewart (1931-2021), a beloved Professor Emerita of English at Gettysburg College (1959-1996). Reading Mary Margaret Stewart features prints of notable authors, including Virginia Woolf and Edgar Alan Poe, as well as works that allude to stories, such as Mark Twain’s “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,”and others that include text as a central component of the composition, as seen in Robert Indiana’s print titled The American Art. Glatfelter not only considers these various references to fiction and poetry, but she also invites the viewer to read the works in the context of Stewart’s own scholarly pursuits and love of art.
From Mountains to City: East Asian Landscapes (Project Space)
Curated by Gettysburg College students under the direction of Prof. Yan Sun
December 6, 2023 – April 13, 2024
Gallery Talks and Opening Reception: December 6, 4-6 p.m.
Under the direction of Prof. Yan Sun, student curators examine diverse depictions of landscapes from China and Japan. The selected works, including paintings on silk, ornate carvings in lapis lazuli, and prints, among others, offer meditations on nature and industrialization. Students consider the historical, material, aesthetic, and environmental significance of the works on display.
Ansel Adams: Manzanar (Main Gallery)
Curated by Emma Wylam ’24 and Sophia Crawford ’24 under the direction of Interim Gallery Director Sarah Kate Gillespie
January 31 – April 13, 2024
Opening Reception: January 31, 4 p.m. with reception to follow until 6 p.m.
In 1943, Ansel Adams (1902-1984), one of America’s most well-known photographers, documented the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese-Americans interned there during World War II. The exhibition features 50 prints from Adams’s Manzanar portfolio, which includes portraits, scenes of families working, sports and leisure activities, and details of the architecture and everyday life of the internees. The Manzanar War Relocation Center was located in Inyo County, California, at the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains approximately 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Although Adams included images of the rugged scenery surrounding the camp in the portfolio, this series was a departure, both politically and aesthetically, from Adams’s better-known landscape photography.
When Adams offered his original prints and photographic negatives from this series to the Library of Congress, he explained, “The purpose of my work was to show how these people, suffering under a great injustice, and loss of property, businesses and professions, had overcome the sense of defeat and despair by building for themselves a vital community in an arid (but magnificent) environment …. All in all, I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document, and I trust it can be put to good use.”
CAPSTONE 2024 (Main Gallery)
May 1 – 18, 2024
Gallery Talks and Opening Reception: May 1, 4 p.m. with reception to follow until 6 p.m.
Senior studio art majors present their independent capstone work in a variety of media under the direction of Prof. Austin Stiegemeier.
Please contact Interim Gallery Director Sarah Kate Gillespie for more information.
Featured image caption: Thomas Doughty (American, 1793-1856), Valley of the Susquehanna, oil on canvas, c. 1830s.