Curated by Jennifer Vanderpool
Harris Gallery
La Verne University

September 6-October 27, 2022

Featuring the work of:
Mark Batongmalaque
Anne H. Berry + Sarah Edmands Martin
Theron Brown
Chet Glaze
Dana Sperry
Mercedes Teixido
Arnold Tunstall
Mariana Braña
Brianna De Santiago
Samantha Gonzalez
Laryssa Lahn
Fel Nikoli McCoy
Marco Rodastorres

Welcome Here! explored a critical geographic reimagination of Americana and the diversity it encompasses. These artists work across mediums, investigating and presenting a remapping of their communities’ histories, ethnic, racial, gender, economic, and cultural stories to enrich engagement, perhaps even contestation, with the themes expressed in the exhibited artworks.

Anne H. Berry &  Sarah Edmands Martin, Ongoing Matters: Government Document Design in the Public’s Interest

The collaborative team of Cleveland State University professor Anne H. Berry, and Notre Dame University professor Sarah Edmands Martin’s Ongoing Matter calls average citizens to respond to what has become one of the most consequential political moments in modern history—a moment when the integrity of American elections and democracy itself is at risk—by reading Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s words. The artists and designers in this project consider their charge to be empowering, using the art of communication design to 1) spur audiences to act and 2) combat widespread misinformation and disinformation.

Mark Batongmalaque, Head of Mountain, 2022 (Acrylic & Ink on Linen)

Mark Batongmalaque’s recent paintings investigate his experiences as a first-generation Filipino-American, his family’s striving to become middle-class, and the material culture that represents this status.

Mercedes Teixido, is an improvisational storyteller creating textile, watercolor, drawing, and site-specific works. She is the Loren Barton Babcock Miller Fine Arts Professor at Pomona College.

Chet Glaze, Christmas Conifers, 2020 (Archival Print on Paper)

Chet Glaze’s artwork illustrate the end of micro-industrial agriculture in the Inland Empire. Glaze is a professor at Mt. San Jacinto College.

Arnold Tunstall, Spider Man, 2019 (Photograph on silver gelatin)

Over his thirty-year career, photographer Arnold Tunstall has been documenting the idea of “America.” As a product of the mid-twentieth century in a Northeast Ohio suburb, he is fascinated by the layers within an urban environment and by what is revealed or concealed by each layer. He is the Director of University Galleries at Myers School of Art at The University of Akron.

Dana Sperry is an interdisciplinary digital media artist whose recent work explores states of loneliness and isolation arising from experiences that convey a sense of insignificance in a modern post-industrial society. He is a Professor of Digital Media at Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio.

Theron Brown is a jazz musician who creates free-form musical dialogues that tell stories of everyday life. Brown is a professor in the School of Music at The University of Akron and the artist coordinator for Curated Storefront’s Artist Residency Program at I Promise School. He created a new piece for Welcome Here!, which played in the gallery. Brown has performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Akron Symphony, Cleveland Jazz Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra.

To facilitate a multigeneration conversation among the artists and their works featured in the exhibition, Welcome Here! included paintings selected by the curator from professor Dion Johnson’s Spring 2022 University of La Verne painting class. Works by Mariana Braña, Brianna De Santiago, Samantha Gonzalez, Laryssa Lahn, Fel Nikoli McCoy, and Marco Rodastorres explore themes of identity and geographic location through their personal experiences.

Welcome Here! Symposium
Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Harris Gallery
University of La Verne

The Department of Art and Art History is excited to announce the Welcome Here! Symposium on Wednesday, October 26, 2022. All events will take place in the Harris Gallery. The symposium is free and open to the public.

1:30 PM -1:45 PM Welcome

• Welcome by Dion Johnson, Director of Harris Gallery
• Welcome Here! Curatorial Talk by guest curator Jennifer Vanderpool

1:45 PM-2:30 PM Reimaging Architecture and Building Community

• Employing Arnold Tunstall’s photographs included in Welcome Here! as a conversation starter, panelists will discuss the stories of communities through the visual narratives of place, preservation, and city planning. 
• Arnold Tunstall, Welcome Here! Artist
• Jennifer Trotoux, Director of Collections and Interpretation, The Gamble House Conservancy
• Dr. Jon Leaver, Professor of Art History, Department of Art and Art History, University of La Verne (Moderator)

2:45 PM -3:15 PM From Tension to Comfort and Reflection

• Panelists will discuss musical creativity as exploration, emotional impact, and well-being.
• Theron Brown, Welcome Here! Artist
• Dr. Grace Xia Zhao, Associate Professor, Music, University of La Verne
• Dion Johnson, Director of University Galleries, University of La Verne (Moderator)

3:30 PM-4:15 PM What Happened to the Orange Empire?

• Using Chet Glaze’s works included in Welcome Here! as a starting point, panelists will discuss the impact of micro-industrial agricultural disinvestment in local economies, communities, and the built environment.
• Chet Glaze, Welcome Here! Artist
• Dr. Benjamin Jenkins, Associate Professor of History and University Archivist, University of La Verne
• Dr. Al Clark, Professor of Humanities, University of La Verne (Moderator)

4:30-5:15 PM Capodimonte: Family Stories and Aspirations

• Through his recent paintings, Welcome Here! artist Mark Batongmalque tells stories about family and experiences as a first-generation Filipino-American in Los Angeles, which will be the departure point for this discussion.
• Mark Batongmalque, Welcome Here! Artist
• Dr. Anthony Christian Ocampo, Professor of Sociology, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
• Dr. JoAnna Poblete, Professor of History, John D. and Lillian Maguire Distinguished Professor in the Humanities Chair, History Department, Claremont Graduate University (Moderator)