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Nestled in the heart of the Delaware State University Library is the school’s art gallery. It’s an inviting space, with a light wood floor and white walls. Not that you can see much of the walls right now - they’re covered, almost floor to ceiling, with bright splashes of color - paintings by state employees and their families. All in all, there are more than 200 works on display.
Walking inside, I’m greeted by Kristin Pleasanton, Deputy Director of the Delaware Division of the Arts.
As we tour the art, she explains that this is the 14th year of the exhibition, which first came about in the bleak days following the Great Recession as a way to honor employees.
The exhibition picks winners in a variety of categories, and our first stop is at a work by one of those prize winners - it’s a combination of paint and collage called “Self” by Maureen McCambridge with a stylized face, reminiscent of cubism to me - on either side of the face is a cut out plate and the text “a LOT on my plate.”
"She began doing art during COVID and it really was a great release for her and really therapeutic," Pleasanton explains.
This work won “Best in Show” in the amateur category.
Our tour continues with a look at the overall “Best in Show” winner - and this is a good time to mention that the employee art exhibition isn’t just paintings. It’s sculpture and much more as well - like this gigantic, multicolored snail called “Carrying the World” by Brianna Shetzler.
"She is a school teacher. She's an art teacher in the Appoquinimink school district and everything is done by hand," Pleasanton says. "There's so many little details and little things coming out of recesses.
It’s not just sculpture either. Think rugs, a quilt, crochet, papercraft - even a huge Pau Wau drum by DelDOT employee John Guthrie. It's a wooden frame with a skin drum head and large feathers adorning the shell. It's painted with white buffalo. It's huge too, and interactive. Guthrie included a beater, and Pleasanton sounded a few deep notes on the drum.
I’m not an art expert, but I had to point out my personal pick for best in show, although it was definitely for sentimental rather than aesthetic reasons.
“Milo” is the name of the work, and presumably the name of the very handsome, very happy looking dog in a piece by Amanda Colton in the intermediate category.
Kristin Pleasanton says that a lot of people submit work year after year.
"We've seen kids that start in the youth category and now they're in intermediate -they're adults," Pleasanton says. "They're in college, and they're they're still sending a piece in. So it's been fun to watch kids grow up. And sometimes, we've had, I think families as many as five members that have all brought in a piece from the same family."
The 14th annual State Employee Art Exhibition is on display through March 21 at the Arts Center/Gallery at Delaware State University.
Delaware Public Media's arts coverage is made possible, in part, by support from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
