Galleries at IU Northwest host summer exhibits with works by recent grads as well as internationally acclaimed artists: IU Northwest : Indiana University

GARY, Ind. — Indiana University Northwest School of the Arts has two shows running across both of its art galleries, Beautiful Heavy-Heavy Beautiful: The Artwork of Gabriel Villa and Novel Treasures: New Acquisitions of the IUN Collections, both of which open Tuesday, May 28.

IU Northwest’s campus has two art galleries:

• The School of the Arts Gallery, Arts, and Sciences 2nd Floor, Room 2017, 3415 Broadway Gary, IN
• Gallery for Contemporary Art, Savannah Center, 65 W 33rd Ave, Gary, IN

Beautiful Heavy-Heavy Beautiful runs May 28 to July 18 in the Gallery for Contemporary Art. The show spans multiple mediums, including paintings, drawings and ceramics. Villa’s work fuses his Mexican American experience and observations from Chicago’s Southside. Villa’s exhibition record includes Hyde Park Art Center, Sullivan Galleries – School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Centro De Artes Museum in San Antonio, Texas and School of Architecture, Art, and Design at American University, Dubai.

Novel Treasures runs May 28 to July 11 in the School of the Arts Gallery. The show includes nine recently acquired pieces from the IU Northwest art collections, including a piece by 2024 BFA alumna, Summer Boezeman and 2022 alumna Jewlya Sturtevant. Boezeman received the prestigious Fine Arts Purchase Award for her work “Lucid Reflections.”

Here’s Boezeman on her process:

“The process … is highly important to (my work’s) sculptural experience as it allows me to form a strong connection to their textural composition by becoming a part of them physically and psychologically. For instance, “Lucid Reflections” involved working on a large scale, cutting thick foam with a handsaw and reconfiguring faux fur in a gluing process. Each method in this sculpture made me look at myself in a different light and I started to feel as though I was physically bonding myself with the presence of the monster I created.”

The School of the Arts will hold extended viewing hours for both galleries on Saturday, June 29 and will host an artist talk and reception for Gabriel Villa at 4 p.m. that day.

For more information, email iunsoa@iu.edu.

Gallery Hours: Mondays and Thursdays, 12-5 p.m. IU Northwest’s campus will be closed on July 4.

IU 2030: Service to our State and Beyond IU Northwest will improve the lives of the people and economic vitality of Northwest Indiana and beyond by fostering and strengthening collaborative relationships that promote, build and sustain the well-being of the campus and our communities.