On February 10th, 2022, WGSS, the Fine Arts Department, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art WSU hosted American artist Alison Saar as the 2022 Jo Hockenhull Distinguished lecturer. Saar’s lecture was offered both in-person and online, where she discussed how art connects with social justice by providing an overview of her work in printmaking and sculpture. Alison Saar’s art captivated attendees with her use of personal vocabulary informed by race, history, and mythology. Saar’s lecture was accompanied by an exhibition entitled, “Mirror, Mirror: The Prints of Alison Saar,” and was on display through March 12th, 2022 in the Jordan D. Schnitzer Museum of Art. For more information on Saar’s lecture and art, visit the Department of Art and The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
The Jo Hockenhull Distinguished Lecture series began in 1996 with the WGSS program in collaboration with the Fine Arts program at WSU. This lecture series was developed to honor Jo Hockenhull, an emeritus professor with the WSU Fine Arts program and director of WGSS for over a decade. Hockenhull is known for her efforts in building programs and initiatives to support diversity, liberal arts, free speech, and critical thinking. Like Saar’s work, past lecturers have been artists whose work inspires and elicits the connections between social justice and political practice with art.