Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery to host Faculty Exhibition

Southeastern Louisiana University’s Contemporary Art Gallery is hosting the 2025 Visual Art + Design Faculty Exhibition Aug. 28 through Sept. 24. The gallery will hold an opening reception on Thursday, Aug. 28, from 5-7 p.m.

The exhibition will feature work of the Southeastern faculty in the Visual Art + Design Department. It represents a wide array of media ranging from painting to sculpture, performance, photography, printmaking, video, ceramics, theatre design, and graphic design.

Artists include Jeffery Mickey, Benjamin Diller, Shayla M. Kelly, Chad Serhal, Lily Brooks, Rachel Harmeyer, John Valentino, Eric Huckabee, Ernest Milsted, Mona Jahani, garima thakur, Tabitha Nikolai, Kathryn Baczeski, Stephen Schepker, Dale Newkirk, Tom Walton, Dominic Marasco, and Rose McBurney.

“This exhibition provides a chance to connect with our faculty, and view their personal ideals and pieces done outside their professional work setting. Each artwork reflects the artistic perspectives, interests, and skills of our faculty that they share with students on a weekly basis,” said Gallery Director Tabitha Nikolai. “The audience can view the faculty’s same dedicated research that they encourage our creative students to try. This show is an opportunity to really understand our faculty through their own rich vision.”

In addition to the exhibition, a lecture by Assistant Professor of Costume Design Mona Jahana titled “Costume Designing Clue: Exploring American Identity in the McCarthy Era” is scheduled Oct. 2, at 5 p.m. in the gallery. Jahana will be discussing the historical research and thematic analysis that played a part in her costume design for Clue, produced by the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts. Her lecture will explore the process of visually defining the “American Identity” in a play where plot hinges on the landscape of fear surrounding the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The gallery is located in East Strawberry Stadium on campus at 411 Ned McGehee Dr. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

For more information, contact Nikolai via email at [email protected]. Keep up with gallery events at southeastern.edu/slucontemporary.