Tonja Torgerson: Succumb
Cider Gallery (810 Pennsylvania St.)

As part of her project-based residency at the Lawrence Arts Center, Torgerson uses prints, cut paper, and collage to create a fallen Garden of Eden in which life-size figures grapple with the recognition of their mortality. These works provide an intimate pause in which to consider the frailty of the body, allowing us to dwell on uncomfortable truths.

Torgerson’s exhibit will be open to the public starting Friday, June 25, but attendees of the festival’s One Reel Under the Stars short film program can get a sneak peek of her process and progress on Wednesday, June 23!

Ashlyn Pope: Witnessing Dandelions
Lawrence Arts Center (940 New Hampshire St.)

Ashlyn Pope’s work is a reflection not only of her own experience, but also an expression of her history. Pope has spent her time in residency at the Arts Center exploring themes of her ancestry and symbolism, and how to relay that information through her ceramics. Working in both hand-building and throwing, she uses her art to champion diversity through a body of work that discusses her own Gullah history, as well as the past and present of the Black community. While Pope works in a variety of mediums, she truly enjoys the challenges of working in clay, “having to take the time to become acquainted and learn to work together with the clay, and become a partner in its formation.”

Also on display at the Lawrence Arts Center…

Experimental Film Showcase + Midden sculpture by Adriana Gramly

Aaron Hughes | Poetry Despite/Music Despite Eternal War Requiem