An exhibition of Art Education faculty work entitled, Spirituality & Coexistence, is now on view at the Cabot Gallery until August 1. This is an excellent time to see a relatively large body of recent creative works by Dr. Fatih Benzer and Dr. Steve Willis.

Dr. Benzer’s areas of interest include studying visual cultures through semiotics and issues related to diversity and multicultural education. About his work, he says his ” . . . iconographic paintings are inspired by ancient mythologies from Greek, Ottoman, and Persian miniatures, whirling dervishes in Sufi belief represented by Rumi’s ecstatic poetry of freedom and devotion, and abstracted geometry inspired by antique Greek, Egyptian, and Byzantine architecture. The concepts such as stigma, stereotypes, and co-existence are the main themes in my current work.”

Dr. Willis says his images depict his Spiritual journey: “They reflect Spiritual encounters with material means. They translate the unmistakable reality of other veracities. They represent portals and prisons; issues of insideness, outsideness, and upside-downness that are interwoven into perceptions. They are gestures of occurrences, snapshots of my journey within Ceremonial events. They are frozen memories — fleeting experiences that echo mercurial moments found simultaneously in primordial and elemental existence.”

Cabot Gallery is located at 215 West Mill Street, inside Brick City Building 3, on the first floor.  Summer hours from May 24-June 24 are Monday-Friday 11am-6pm. Other times, through August 1, the exhibit can also be seen by appointment through the Art + Design Department 417-837-2330.