UPPER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — Charles Stonewall pointed to an image from a 1980 march to recognize Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a federal holiday.
In the photo, a Black man holds his head up and stares into the crowd — a tear streams down his cheek.
Stonewall's works, along with the those by award-winning illustrator David Gothrad and mixed-media artist Christina "Tina" Galbiati, are part of a new exhibition, "Liberty and Justice for All."
The engaging collection is located in the recently remodeled Ronald K. DeLong Gallery at Penn State's Lehigh Valley Campus, or (PSU-LV).
Through paintings, drawings and photos, the trio of artists touch on race, gender and equality.
It will be on display through Jan. 23.
After the fire
Ann Lalik, director of the gallery, first had the idea for an exhibit that focused on social justice and the American experience back in 2019, as a way to encourage students to vote in the 2020 election.
Then, the COVID pandemic happened and the exhibition came to a halt.
Fast forward to 2024.
In June, after an electrical fire happened in the campus bookstore, the school decided to shut its doors and Lalik asked the school's chancellor if it was possible to relocate the gallery from the third floor to the first floor.
Renovations for the new space began in July, and Lalik and DeLong, after whom the gallery is named, decided to bring back the exhibition during the 2024 presidential election year.
All the artists serve as adjunct instructors at the school, which opened its Center Valley location in 2009.
Galbiati said the show serves as a vehicle to motivate a dialogue about complex social and political themes.
"I believe it is more important than ever to spark discussion and critically examine these topics so we can learn and evolve from these challenging times," Galbiati said. "It is also very interesting that a lot of the themes in this show are perpetually reoccurring, which evokes a broader critical question of the importance of artists to reflect and synthesize their point of view in order to record history."
Finding 'universal' truth
Gothard, whose political illustrations have appeared in national publications such as "The New York Times," "Wall Street Journal," and the "Boston Globe," has more than 25 illustrations on display.
Many of his works accompany editorial pieces meant to stress current events, as in the instance of "America Rethinks War."
Created on ink and brush, the 2024 watercolor drawing depicts a soldier riding in a chariot. It was printed in the "Wall Street Journal" to pair with an op-ed by retired Army Gen. David Petraeus.
"Petraus wrote an article about how warfare from this point on is not going to be soldiers, boots on the ground. It's going to be digital and drone warfare, which is terribly frightening to me," Gothard said.
"In the drawing, the soldier's being drawn forward by the drones against his will and he's trying to pull back and the chariot becomes a symbol of war from another era, so it's past being brought into the future."
Also on display are some of his older illustrations.
"America's Homeless" was printed in "The New York Times" in 1988.
The drawing is of a visibly frightened man as he lies on cold asphalt and shields himself with a blanket.
"It appeared on the front page of the "New York Times" on Christmas Day, and it had a lot of impact and really struck a chord," Gothard said.
Gothard won awards for that illustration and a second "New York Times" piece entitled, "Lessons from Vietnam," published in 1995.
"I learned early on in my career to not illustrate the rhetoric of the article, but instead try to find humanity behind it."Illustrator and artist David Gothard
While he understands the themes of his work may draw criticisms across a political spectrum, that is not the intention.
"I learned early on in my career to not illustrate the rhetoric of the article, but instead try to find humanity behind it. Then the image becomes more universal," Gothard said.
"Someone who's progressive could come in my studio and say, 'Oh, you nailed that, but then a conservative person can look at the same image and say the same thing, but they don't want to agree, and I love that. It means I somehow found some universal truth in the topic."
In Obama's words
For Galbiati, the use of social and political themes in her art serves as a cathartic release.
"Sometimes I create work with a forward point of you, such as “Watching You” digital collage series and animations on the Supreme Court and Roe Vs. Wade. Other pieces are open, and encourage personal reflection for instance in “Half Empty, Half Full” which is a query on immigration," she said.
In the "President and the First Lady" Galbiati collaged the words from former President Obama's 2008 inauguration speech and then placed an illustration of former First Lady Michelle Obama in the background.
"You can read every word if you follow carefully. The inspiration for this piece was record-keeping and paying homage to one of the most gifted orators of our times," she said.
On a wall near the Obamas are works that touch on the topic of free speech.
In “Democracy Dies in Darkness” diptych and animation, “We The People” is collaged from the letters of the nameplate of the "Los Angeles Times" and "Washington Post."
"Free speech is very important to democracy; and the black and white color palette and jarring frame animation is also reflecting the ongoing challenge of this topic," Galbiati said. "I am also fervent about analog medium as a form of record-keeping and investigating the importance of print-to-digital communication lifecycle."
Galbiati's “Great Mindz," a collection of analog collages and animations, features blurred-together images of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"What is not sometimes immediately apparent in these pieces are the photos used are photocopied and intentionally degraded on an older copier I have in my studio, and then one-by-one hand collaged," she said.
"The photocopier symbolizes emphasis and excess, so seeing these physical pieces come alive in animation is a further statement on the tension of society, art and technology co-existing."
Marching for King, building a legacy
On the day when Stonewall attended the rally for Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday in Washington D.C., it was so cold he could barely rest his finger on the shutter button of his Nikon F2 camera.
He recalls Stevie Wonder performing his song, "Happy Birthday" written about King's legacy and how he felt a call to activism.
"I think the marches for [Martin Luther King Jr.] started in 79 and then it went on to 81 and eventually it became a national holiday. At the time, I felt that I had to go. I was adamant about it. I felt that I was in a position to be privileged to capture it and it's part of my legacy. But it's also about speaking up for others," Stonewall said.
His other photos showcase racial injustice, anti-gun laws and immigration.
2022's "Tyrants Can Only Go As Far as Those They Oppress Allow Them To" Stonewall was inspired to document his feelings after learning about a 2021 incident in Philadelphia where several teens were accused of ethnic intimidation against a group of Asian students.
Stonewall's photo shows a young Asian man holding a book bag while staring into the face of a bully (only the subject's hands and back are shown).
"At the time I worked for the Allentown Art Museum and asked the young man [shown in the photo] how do we show the care? how do we counteract this? How do we start showing something that's more positive? We've seen enough negative stuff," Stonewall said.
"This was his conceptual image of that. You can see his stance there, as if he's saying, 'I'm not taking this anymore,' Hence why we came up with this particular title."
In 2007's "Rising Above the Trees," Stonewall photographed a young Black boy wearing a white T-shirt, jeans and a red cape.
The boy is looking upward out a window.
"It's about the possibilities of what you can grow to be and the strength that we all have, the uniqueness, and to not weigh that down on how powerful you can grow to be," he said. "It reminds me of me when I was a kid. It reminds me of me as an adult. It reminds me of my full potential of being reminded to be encouraged, because there's something unique about all of us that has this potential to be encouraged."
In "Collective Grief" he displays several brightly lit velas devocionales, or religious candles, huddled as one.
It's a simple concept, with a deeper message. One that addresses immigration, education, health care and housing.
"It has its own subtle ways of not blatantness of the Spanish-speaking community," Stonewall said. "And the title is just as unique."
Recently, he brought his classroom to see the exhibition where he touched on his process and presented Gothrad and Galbiati's take on the exhibit's themes.
"My witnessing of things, especially when it comes to liberty and justice for all, I feel that I have a perspective that others may not slow down enough to actually notice, but if you take the time and look real close, you're going to see things, so this is my contribution to that."
Gallery hours
The gallery is open to the public by appointment and admission is free.
Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Monday — Thursday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.
To make an appointment, contact Ann Lalik, gallery director at 610-285-5000 (ext. 7) or annlalik@psu.edu
The gallery will be closed during campus holidays Dec. 25 — Jan. 11.
