Ashley Nora ’12 Art Exhibition Coming To AU Oct. 6

 2 MIN. READ

Anderson, Ind. — Anderson University is proud to announce that Ashley Nora ’12 will feature her art in a new exhibition at AU October 6 through November 8. The gallery, titled IN SIGHT, will be a highlight of the annual Homecoming festivities with a special opening reception Oct. 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Wilson Gallery in Krannert Hall. An artist talk featuring Nora will begin at 6 p.m.

“We are honored to curate Ashley Nora’s first solo exhibition to kick off Homecoming weekend,” said Holly Sims, assistant professor of visual communication design. “Nora’s large scale portrait paintings will stop you in your tracks. This is an exhibition that you will not want to miss.”

Nora’s latest body of work draws inspiration from her recent visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) in Africa. A place where there is often a lack of resources, the auras of joy still radiated from all of those who surrounded her. Nora felt safety in a place where she was, for once, not the minority.

Blue was the color both seen and felt from the auras and the skin tones. “It’s almost as if their spirit was too big for their fleshly bodies to contain,” said Nora. Having the insight to reimagine this spiritual phenomenon allowed Nora to envision being black in white spaces while radiating the aura of empowerment and intuition.

Scale, imagery, fields of color, and the concept of negative space all play symbolic roles in her representation of what it means to take up space with boldness, authority, and the power to say, “I will no longer wear a mask to cover my identity.”

Learn more about Nora online and visit AU online to see a full Homecoming schedule.

Anderson University is on a mission to educate students for lives of faith and service, offering more than 60 undergraduate majors, 30 three-year degrees, 20 NCAA Division III intercollegiate sports, alongside adult and graduate programs. The private, liberal arts institution is fully accredited and recognized among top colleges for its business, computer science, cybersecurity, dance, engineering, nursing, and teacher education programs. Anderson University was established in 1917 in Anderson, Indiana, by the Church of God.