New Schmucker exhibition to highlight JMR
Photo Credit: Katherine Lentz
By Daniella Snyder, Editor-in-Chief
The newest Schmucker Art Gallery exhibit, opening April 2, aims to highlight the life and work of Gettysburg College’s president, Janet Morgan Riggs.
World famous artists like Jeff Koons, Ai WeiWei, Yayoi Kusama have all submitted works of art to honor the legacy of Gettysburg College’s greatest president.
The exhibition will feature 10 larger than life size marble sculptures of JMR—eating Chicken Finger Friday from Bullet Hole, calculating tuition increases and even one of her dressed in jeans on Casual Friday.
The exhibition will also feature more than 20 selfies taken on JMR’s cellphone. While some selfies prove to be just humorous—one uses the “puppy” Snapchat filter with Servo Sue—others show monumental events in the president’s time at Gettysburg College.
For instance, one selfie documents her meeting Barack Obama. However, only half of Obama’s face can be seen in the selfie. The work is titled, “It’s hard to fit two really important presidents in one picture!”
The exhibit will also feature minimalist works. An apple left half-eaten by JMR one day in Specialty Dining was preserved for this exhibition. A used napkin, another work provided by Specialty, is a key piece to the exhibition’s magnificence.
While the exhibition will not premiere for another few days, students have already begun camping out in front of the gallery’s doors.
Servo Express will be setting up a food truck the night before for the JMR art enthusiasts. The food truck will serve JMR’s favorites: smiley fries, the rainbow M&M cookies from Servo, and peanut butter chocolate milkshakes.
The bookstore will be selling a book preserving the exhibition for years to come.
Shan Egan, director of the Schmucker Art Gallery, thinks that the exhibit will be extremely popular. “If people are still coming to see it, we will not take it down! We will keep the exhibit up until 2020 if visitors are interested,” she said.
A gallery talk by Egan, as well as the artists, will take place on Apr. 2 from 5-7 p.m. Light refreshments and drinks will be provided.
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