Upcoming Exhibits | Art in the Libraries | West Virginia University

Black and white photo of a woman laughing, wearing a blazer, with one hand up

Hollow of History: Women of West Virginia

2026 Graduate Student Exhibit Award Winner | On Display: Fall 2026 - Spring 2027 | Downtown Library Graduate Commons Room Curated by: Kendall T.W., WVU Department of History Exhibition Talk & Presentation: Spring 2027 (Date and time TBA)

"Hollow of History: Women of West Virginia" is an exhibition celebrating four extraordinary women who made monumental contributions to the Mountain State through artistry, advocacy, and academia. By centering their legacies within the WVU Downtown Library, this exhibit aims to firmly integrate their names into the lexicon of West Virginia’s most celebrated historical figures.

Voices, Visibility, and Community: LGBTQ+ West Virginia

Evansdale Library | West Virginia University Libraries

This exhibit celebrates the vibrant, resilient, and diverse LGBTQ+ individuals and organizations who have shaped communities across West Virginia. From rural counties to college towns, West Virginians have built chosen families, led advocacy efforts, created art, and forged spaces of belonging — often against the odds. Through stories, objects, and images contributed by community members statewide, Voices, Visibility, and Community honors those who came before, amplifies voices of the present, and looks with hope toward the future.

Art of a boy with a cap on in all blue against a wooden background

Libertas e Fidelitate: Rights and Revolution in West Virginia’s Coalfields

Curated by the Watts Museum at WVU | WVU Downtown Library, 6th Floor Reading Room | Summer - Fall 2026

Libertas e Fidelitate: Rights and Revolution in West Virginia’s Coalfields is a seven-panel exhibit that uses historical images and text to explore how miners and their families drew on America’s founding ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to challenge oppression, redefine loyalty, and fight for better lives in the coalfields.

Reflecting on Freedom: 250 Years Through the Eyes of WVU Alumni Artists

Downtown Library (Main Campus) | August 2026 - May 2027

In honor of the United States’ 250th anniversary, the 2026–27 WVU Alumni Art Show invites viewers to explore freedom and independence through the eyes of West Virginia University alumni artists. This exhibition gathers a rich spectrum of perspectives—personal, historical, political, and cultural—demonstrating that the meaning of liberty is neither fixed nor singular.

The Architecture of Care: Visualizing Invisible Labor in the Health Humanities | A Collaboration between WVU Art in the Libraries and WVU Press

WVU Health Sciences Pylons | August 2026 - May 2027

"The Architecture of Care" is an invitational exhibition highlighting the often-unseen labor of caregiving in clinical and domestic settings. Featuring high-resolution reproductions and artist narratives, it explores the emotional and physical demands of care while celebrating the launch of WVU Press’s "Connective Tissue" series, showcasing artists like Sally Jane Brown, Julia Clift, and Miki Nishida Goerdt.