JASON LAHR: UNRELIABLE NARRATOR

ANDERSON GALLERY

MARCH 29 THROUGH MAY 18, 2025

Lahr’s paintings combine darkly comic texts with appropriated images, creating shifting narratives of working-class male identity. The work draws from feminism, narrative theory, contemporary and postmodern fiction, semiotics, and film theory to explore the formation and shaping of masculinity through mass culture. The images are pulled from a wide range of popular and sub-cultural ephemera while the texts are fragments that suggest their excision from a larger story and give the reader/viewer flashbulb glimpses at moments of narrative action. Centering on female characters that occupy positions of authority and male characters who are injured, inept, defeated, or perplexed by their dealings with women, the texts and images form narratives which question the wash of expectations and assumptions we experience and create through popular culture.

Jason Lahr was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania. He received his M.F.A. in drawing and painting from Penn State University and his B.F.A. in painting from Clarion University. He is represented by Patrick Painter Inc. in Los Angeles, CA. Lahr currently lives and works in South Bend, IN where he holds an Associate Professor of Painting position at the University of Notre Dame and oversees the MFA program in Studio & Design.

WHISPERS OF THE EARTH: IMPERMANENCE THROUGH A WABI-SABI LENS

KNIGHT GALLERY

MARCH 29 THROUGH APRIL 27

In Whispers of the Earth: Impermanence Through a Wabi-Sabi Lens, Dana Mano-Flank invites viewers to pause and reflect on the quiet, transient beauty of nature through the prism of the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi. Rooted in an appreciation for impermanence and imperfection, Dana’s mixed-media paintings celebrate the delicate balance between nature’s cycles and humanity’s place within them. Drawing on the rich textures and organic forms found in natural materials—whether sourced from forests, quarries, or oceans—Dana integrates these elements with pigments and pastes to highlight the inherent beauty of the weathered, the worn, and the ephemeral. Through her thoughtful exploration of materials and color, she evokes a sense of reverence for the simple yet profound details that are often overlooked: the crumbling bark of a tree, the fading edge of a stone, the soft fall of autumn leaves. At the heart of Dana’s work lies a deep reflection on our fragile relationship with the earth. Each piece is an invitation to see beyond the surface, to contemplate the subtle rhythms of the natural world and the marks of time and use that bind us to it. By honoring the often-overlooked imperfections, she encourages a broader awareness of the environmental connections that shape our lives and challenges us to consider the ethical implications of our impact on the planet. This exhibition embodies a dynamic and intuitive process where abstraction meets the spiritual sensibility of wabi-sabi. Dana’s paintings are more than visual compositions; they are a dialogue between color, texture, and material, a manifestation of the delicate interplay between human existence and the natural world. Whispers of the Earth seeks to deepen our understanding of the beauty found in transience and to foster a renewed appreciation for the ephemeral world around us. Dana’s work has been featured in over fifty juried museum exhibitions across the U.S., as well as numerous solo and invitational shows.

28th Annual Images of Water

Photography Competition & Exhibition

Thonson Gallery, March 15 through April 20

After a pandemic-related hiatus, the HAC is excited to bring back one of our longest running juried exhibitions--Images of Water! Celebrating 28 years of creative visions of water, this annual competition highlights the inspiring beauty of water. From images of lakes and streams to ice-cube trays and snow, Images of Water is a fun, theme-based show to take a look at. The juror for Images of Water this year was Rebekah Burgess. Rebekah was born and raised in Humboldt County, taking up photography at a young age. She received a PhD in Photo History and has worked in Photography, Drawings, Prints, and Maps collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Life Magazine, and the New York City Department of Parks. With decades of hands-on work with some of the world’s finest prints, Rebekah brings a thoughtful and enthusiastic eye to the boundless possibilities of creativity within the photographic medium.

Youth Gallery

Egyptian Masks by Freshwater Elementary School Students

April 5 through April 27

HAC Classroom

From the HAC Permanent Collection: Morris Graves, Glenn Berry, Bruno Groth, Melvin Schuler & Romano Gabriel

“Selections from the Permanent Collection” features highlights from the HAC's superb holdings of North Coast fine art from the twentieth century. It incorporates a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, decorative and folk arts. Though the exhibition is ongoing, the installation is updated regularly. Please call ahead for details on current exhibitions. 707-442-0278