As celebrations of the United States’ 250th anniversary begin, Marquette University students can participate by visiting the Haggerty Art Museum for multiple new exhibits, including “Declaration of ____.”
The Haggerty aims to highlight the different ideas of democracy, liberty, happiness and how they have been denied to marginalized communities in U.S. history in various art forms.
Patrick Mullins, Associate Professor of History and Public History and curator of “Defying Empire: Revolutionary Prints from Britain and America,” and Rose Camara, the “Declaration of ____” guest curator, purposefully contrasted the time periods of the two exhibits.
The modern “Declaration of ____” exhibit is contrasted by the historical “Defying Empire: Revolutionary Prints from Britain and America” exhibit, but they both emphasize the use of print in political movements from the American Revolution to present.
When walking onto the Haggerty second floor, viewers will see an array of various art forms, including prints, quilts, postcards and picket signs on the wall. In the middle of the room, a table stands filled with zines — small, handmade booklets often covering art, politics or personal stories — supplied by the collectives and artists, encouraging viewers to sit and flip through them.
“Declaration of ____,” offers a contemporary outlook on the history of the United States. From emphasizing freedom, democracy and the right to protest, the exhibit explores themes of motherhood, race and workers’ rights.
Camara considered several underlying themes along with the main focus of highlighting the country’s 250th anniversary celebration.
“I wanted to jam this gallery with as many people and perspectives as I possibly could,” Camara said.
For “Declaration of ____,” Camara said they sought out art collectives — a group of artists who share ideas to create collaborative art pieces and projects — from the upper Midwest to maximize voices and perspectives apart from more visible collectives from the east and west coast.
These zines grapple with social issues, from the Flint water crisis to queer love, showing how historically, print is often used to spread awareness of social topics across the country. Viewers are reminded that democracy and freedom are things to be engaged with, rather than left alone.
One of these zines is supplied by MotherArt: Revisited, which is an art collective of mothers based in Chicago.
The zine, titled “On the Line: Messages of Care,” is filled with multiple QR codes. They direct users to an app called Hoverlay, where MotherArt: Revisited created augmented reality with art messages revolving around care and kindness, including “Without care, there is decay.”
MotherArt: Revisited also features a collection of print postcards titled “The Postcard Project,” inspired by Timothy Snyder’s book “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.”
After the idea was created during a Zoom meeting in 2020, gaining an informal name of a “pandemic piece,” each member of the collective was assigned a random chapter from the book, with the goal of creating 20 postcards.
Galina Shevchenko, an artist and founding member at MotherArt: Revisited, was assigned Chapter 7, titled “Be reflective if you must be armed,” detailing lessons from the wars, conflict and tyranny of the twentieth century. As a Russian immigrant, the lessons about tyranny resonated with Shevchenko, inspiring her reflection in the postcard.
“The ‘Declaration of ____’ [and 250th U.S.] anniversary is bringing all of these historical moments together to give us a point to reflect,” Shevchenko said. “What exactly are we dealing with, where are we at after all of these years and what lessons have we learned?”
Shevchenko never imagined the pandemic piece having such significant relevance six years later.
“We read this book in 2017, so it was fascinating for us to respond to it in 2020, and then still be dealing with this six years later,” Shevchenko said.
“Declaration of ___” goes beyond traditional ideas of art by thinking outside the box and using unique materials, as seen in postcards, quilts and even Ikea dish towels.
The Chicago ACT Collective provided a piece called “Con Cuidado,” — with care — which contains various phrases, including, “Not today” and “I know they love you,” printed and stained on an Ikea dish towel.
Jessica Mueller, an artist at MotherArt: Revisited and Chicago ACT Collective, created “Con Cuidado” and helped create “The Postcard Project.” She said the use of postcards adds another meaning to the piece.
“As it goes through the mail system, you are releasing control,” Mueller said. “That artwork and message are interacting with who knows who, how and when before it reaches its final destination.”
The “Declaration of ___” opened on Jan. 23 with three other exhibits, two of which also celebrate the U.S. 250th anniversary. All exhibits will be on display at the Haggerty Art Museum until May 16, and more information can be found here.
This article was written by MaryKate Stepchuk. She can be reached at [email protected].
