Headshot of Sally Brown, curator, Art in the Libraries, WVU Libraries.


Dear friends,

Welcome back to the Art in the Libraries newsletter!

Since joining West Virginia University Libraries in 2017, I’ve been deeply grateful for the spaces and projects we’ve created together—places where ideas, creativity, and conversation intersect. Especially now, having spaces to challenge, inspire, and delight feels more important than ever.

And we’ve been busy since our last newsletter.


Impact Beyond the Walls

Each show invites you to look closer, think bigger, and maybe roll your eyes at assumptions you didn’t even know you had.

With a background in art, art history, and feminist theory, I see exhibitions as conversations—sometimes whispers, sometimes shouting, occasionally throwing a little glitter your way. Conversations like these should be accessible to all.

The Art in the Libraries Committee is always striving to make these programs accessible and inclusive through interactive elements and opportunities for many voices to be seen and heard. Our Artificial Intelligence (AI) exhibit now features an audio tour available on YouTube, created by Nicole Fuller, Art in the Libraries committee member and captioner from the WVU Office of Accessibility Services.

We’re also excited that the exhibit will travel to the WVU-Beckley Campus Library next summer!


Art in the Libraries Receives Statewide Recognition

🌿 Land matters. Archives matter. Who gets to speak matters.

This year, Art in the Libraries was honored with the 2025 West Virginia Association of Museums Innovative Programming Award for the Indigenous Appalachia traveling exhibit. Originally launched in Morgantown in 2022, the exhibition has traveled regionally, sparking reflection and dialogue on the complexity and richness of Indigenous presence in Appalachia.

A portion of the exhibit remains semi-permanently installed in WVU’s Downtown Library—including the land acknowledgement and artist banner—serving as daily reminders that this work is ongoing, not a past event.

Exhibit panel hanging between spiraling stair rails. Exhibit panel hanging between spiraling stair rails.

Indigenous Appalachia Exhibit.

Alumni Exhibition — Submissions Open!

The window to submit for our upcoming WVU Alumni exhibition, "Reflecting on Freedom: 250 Years Through the Eyes of WVU Alumni Artists", is open until December 31.

Ruth Yang posing in front of two original paintings of a boy and a woman.

The exhibition will explore the layered meanings of freedom and independence—and all the possibilities, critiques, and contradictions that come with them.

Special thanks to the WVU Alumni Association for their promotion support, and to Ruth Yang (BFA ’21), who joins as a special alumni juror.

💡 Do you know any WVU alumni who make art? No formal art education required! Send them a note to submit.

📸 Image: Ruth Yang exhibiting in 2019 at WVU Libraries.


Artist-in-Residence — Environmental Archives

Applications for the 2026 artist-in-residency closed on November 28, and we received some wonderful proposals. This year’s selected artist will explore the WVU West Virginia & Regional History Center’s environmental archives, culminating around Earth Day 2026.

Keep an eye on exlibris.lib.wvu.edu for our announcement of the new activist artist in residence early next year.

Thanks to our sponsors, including the Appalachian Community Development Association Festival and the Oakland Foundation, for supporting this program.

"The opportunity to be the FAIR inaugural artist was truly a unique and treasured time to critically and expansively make new work."
— Catron Booker, WVU Feminist Activist Artist in Residence 2025

Student and Faculty Highlights

This year’s Art in the Libraries intern, Alexia Whitehair, a WVU student in art history and anthropology, has been a superstar—bringing the Study Abroad Photo Exhibit to life and contributing to an upcoming WVU Marching Band exhibit.

Basket of buttons designed by students and Art in the Libraries committee members using AI.


With Gratitude

Art invites us to see, think, and care differently. Thank you to students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners for keeping Art in the Libraries lively, thought-provoking, and joyfully innovative.

I hope this newsletter offers new ways to dive deeper into this year’s Art in the Libraries exhibits. We welcome your thoughts anytime.

Warmly,
Sally Jane Brown
Curator, Art in the Libraries, WVU Libraries

P.S. What would get you excited about art in the libraries? Tell me at sally.brown1@mail.wvu.edu.