Sharp Museum fall 2025 exhibitions: (Top) T. Lance, Sharp Museum curator of exhibits, shows off ceramics by SIU Carbondale alumna Caro Burks while Jerri Young, (below) a research assistant with the museum, looks at photographs by Saluki alum and Chicago photographer Paul Elledge. (Photos by Russell Bailey)
September 16, 2025
SIU’s Sharp Museum’s new exhibitions highlight diversity in photographs, ceramics
CARBONDALE, Ill. — A ceramics exhibition from 49 former artists-in-residence with the New Harmony Clay Project and a series of photographs highlighting Southern Illinois residents by Southern Illinois University Carbondale alumnus Paul Elledge are among the Sharp Museum’s four new exhibitions this fall.
Two other exhibitions in the museum this fall include “WPOW—Women Photojournalists of Washington” and “Choosing to Participate,” a Smithsonian Institution traveling poster exhibition.
T Lance, the museum’s curator of exhibits, said this fall’s four exhibitions, each on display through Dec. 13, focus on diversity “in every way possible.”
“Not just diversity of people but diversity of style,” they said. “We have two photo exhibitions, but they are vastly different. We have the photojournalism, which is focusing more on current events and then we have ‘Visions of Us,’ which is more portraiture and trying to show unique personalities.”
As with all exhibitions, the artwork represents the viewpoints of its creators, not SIU. SIU complies with the Illinois Governmental Ethics Act and State Officials and Employees Ethics Act.
The Blaffer Collection — New Harmony Clay Project (NHCP)
Located in the Atrium Gallery, the ceramics exhibition features 53 pieces from 49 past NHCP artists-in-residence, including several pieces from Caro Burks, who earned her Master of Fine Art from SIU’s School of Art and Design in 2020. The artworks, which are all part of the Blaffer Permanent Collection, features international artists from countries including Denmark, Germany, India and Kuwait.
Lenny Dowhie, New Harmony Clay Project director and an internationally known ceramics sculptor, will give an artist talk beginning at 5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, with a reception to follow until 9 p.m.
Before coming to SIU Carbondale in November 2024, Lance was a senior gallery associate of the New Harmony Gallery of Contemporary Art at the University of Southern Indiana and former instructor and program manager at NHCP. The exhibition “challenges what people think of when you say ceramics, because most people think of vases and bowls. But there are a lot of nontraditional ceramics.”
“It’s really prestigious to have an international ceramics collection on view,” they said. “It’s a great resource for our undergraduate and graduate students just to help them think outside of the box because everything is so different and so varied.”
“Visions of Us”
Located in the Mitchell Gallery, the collection of 61 portraits of Southern Illinois residents by Elledge, a Chicago photographer, filmmaker and 1981 SIU Carbondale graduate, is designed to highlight the diversity and humanity of people in the region.
Lance said one goal is “to show that Illinois is not just a flyover state and that there is more to Southern Illinois than corn,” they said. “He also wants us to look more at our similarities rather than our differences and the ways that we can get along and find common ground.”
Elledge will give an artist talk beginning at 2 p.m. Sept. 27, with a reception to follow until 6 p.m.
WPOW — Women Photojournalists of Washington
The WPOW: Women Photojournalists of Washington, a photography and multimedia traveling exhibition featuring 23 examples of standout visual journalism with narratives, is in the museum’s Study Gallery.
Lance noted that only about 10 universities in the country receive the WPOW traveling exhibition after its initial showing in Washington, D.C. The museum also hosted the exhibition in February 2024. Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Evelyn Hockstein, a senior White House photographer for Reuters, was guest speaker at a Sept. 12 reception.
“Choosing to Participate”
Located in the Continuum Gallery, the traveling poster exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service also highlights the importance of diversity with material that notes when to participate in discussions, dispel bigotry and create positive social change, Lance said. The exhibition is for all ages but geared toward middle school and high school students.
Museum hours
For more information on the exhibitions, contact Lance at 618-453-5388 or t.lance@siu.edu or visit museum.siu.edu. Sharp Museum hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday. The museum is closed Sunday and Monday, and during all SIU breaks and holidays.
