Local artist Shoko Calyn posing with her artwork at Waldo’s & Company. (Photo Jules Young/The Gettysburgian)
By Jules Young, Arts & Entertainment Editor
On Friday, Oct. 3rd, the local cafe/art space Waldo’s & Company held their monthly gallery opening. Waldo’s is a special feature for both the campus and town of Gettysburg because it is a non-profit cafe. Their drinks are donation-based, meaning the customer may choose their price. Additionally, they are a space for local artists to create and display their works. They offer a sizable studio, as well as space in the back to sell local art.
Each month, one artist affiliated with Waldo’s is given the opportunity to be featured in their main gallery, the main front area of the cafe. On the first Friday of each month, the featured artist hosts a gallery opening. The front room furniture is cleared to create a proper gallery space for guests to come and admire the works, speak with the artist, and enjoy drinks from Waldo’s menu.
Waldo’s gallery hosts a wide variety of art styles and mediums, from paintings to prints to sculpture to mixed media. The most recent gallery feature was Waldo’s own Chris Lauer, who sculpted 100 star-shaped mylar balloons out of clay.
This month, the featured artist was Shoko Calyn, a Gettysburg resident and contributor to the local art scene of the town. Their main media focus for the gallery was linework prints, as they regularly work with tattoo art, both designing and tattooing. Additionally, there were some mixed media pieces, such as “My Favorite Game,” a framed, handcrafted mancala board, “Ao Dai,” a gold mirror adorned in flowers, and “Made in the Philippines,” a mobile made from shells and glass beads.
According to her artist’s statement, Shoko’s intent for the collection was to highlight her Filipino-American heritage, and that “growing up, [she] was immersed in many different cultures… [she] invites you to see [her] childhood through [her] eyes,” They spoke of their upbringing in rural Pennsylvania, and how despite that, they were still exposed to such a vast experience of America’s melting pot.
The themes of multiculturalism and immigration are palpable in her artwork, as they convey a message of the current struggle for immigrant families in the U.S. Shoko went on to explain that “it has been increasingly important for me as a second generation immigrant to be able to identify what is a ‘safe space,’” hoping to encourage people “to identify Gettysburg as welcoming and inclusive.” Overall, this collection highlights a sense of solidarity among immigrants of all walks of life.
This collection will remain in the front room of Waldo’s cafe until the next gallery opening in November, and all of Shoko’s art is available for purchase through Waldo’s anytime.
