Eric Dean Gallery 2026- 2027
Fine Arts Center| Wabash College| Monday - Friday 9- 5 pm and Sat. 2-6|Free and open to the public
OPENING FALL 2026
Errant Ecologies
Works by Melissa Haviland, Allison Maria Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Rose
Exhibit Dates: September 7 – November 14
Opening Reception, Tuesday, September 8, 5:30 – 7, followed by a community workshop with Melissa Haviland at 7 pm
Melissa Haviland, The Flood, detail. Allison Maria Rodriguez, Earth Oracles (video still). Elizabeth Rose, Altitudinal Zones.
Errant Ecologies brings together the work of Melissa Haviland, Allison Maria Rodriguez, and Elizabeth Rose in an exploration of environmental change, interconnection, and the ways beauty can help us navigate and discuss ecological crisis. Working across print, video, and immersive installation, the exhibition considers how landscapes, species, and materials carry histories of transformation, fragility, and survival.
Melissa Haviland’s work uses blue as both material and metaphor, drawing on histories of “bluing” as a process of correction, enhancement, and concealment. Her print installation The Flood surrounds the viewer, drawing them into its blue depths even as it overwhelms and saturates the space. Haviland also transforms old blue tarp into crocheted forms that evoke ponds, storms, seas, and safety nets, recasting a material associated with emergency and shelter as a site of beauty and unease. Allison Maria Rodriguez’s digital video installation Earth Oracles creates a contemplative environment centered on moving-image portraits of endangered species. Drawing on the visual language of prayer cards and oracle decks, the installation positions these animals as beings of reverence, asking viewers to reconsider where guidance might be found. Rose’s delicately layered printed works trace ecological connections across distant geographies, highlighting climatic shifts, geological formations, and delicate environmental details that link seemingly separate places. Drawing on her own experiences traveling through altitudinal zones and across latitudinal lines, Rose creates work that connects geographically disconnected landscapes, focusing on their shared ecologies.
Together, these artists present distinct creative examinations of changing, uncontrollable ecologies and ask the viewer to experience spaces of wonder, warning, and relation through their work.
Artist Residencies, Talks, and Workshops
Each Artist will do a short residency on the Wabash campus to engage with the local community and campus through their creative work. All are welcome – free and public.
Melissa Haviland (on campus Sept 6- 9)
Monday, September 7 @ noon: Gallery Talk to discuss her installation
Tuesday, September 8 at 7 pm: Community Workshop: Tarp Exchange and Crochet
Do you have an old blue tarp? Visiting artist Melissa Haviland will trade you a new blue tarp for your old one. Haviland will recycle your old tarp into crocheted art. Bring your tarp to Wabash College for the trade and stay to see Haviland’s artwork in the gallery. You can also learn to crochet a doily with Haviland and one of her students.
https://www.melissahaviland.com/
Elizabeth Rose Residency (on campus Nov. 15 – 20)
Monday, November 16 at noon Elizabeth Rose Gallery Talk at Noon
Tuesday, November 17 at 7 pm Community Workshop Printing with Plants
Are you interested in plants and their impressions? Come learn how to use natural materials to create unique art through embossed printmaking. This is very experimental – no experience, just bring curiosity.
https://elizabethclairerose.com/b2tismsedqdflkgjyed4nauy2o9ey7
Allison Maria Rodriguez Residency (on campus Oct. 1 – 14)
Thursday, October 1 at noon Allison Maria Rodriguez Artist Talk at Noon
Wednesday, October 7 at 7 pm Community Workshop
https://allisonmariarodriguez.com/
Zeitgeist 2026 Student Art Show
Reception, Thursday, December 11 @noon- Zeitgeist, an exhibition showcasing the creative work of all students enrolled in studio art classes during the fall semester. This exhibit captures the ideas, emotions, and expressions that define the current moment, presented through a variety of media and artistic approaches. Celebrate the voices of our emerging artists and the energy of their generation at this moment.
OPENING SPRING 2027
RESTORING HOPE, RESTORING TRUST ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE SOLO EXHIBITION
Pero Sigo Siendo El Rey (But I Am Still The King)
NEW WORK BY JUSTIN FAVELA
Gallery Reception with Artist: Thursday, Feb 4, 4:30 pm – 7 pm
Lunchtime Artist Lecture: Tuesday, Jan. 19 at noon
Community Workshop: Date announced in early 2027
Justin Favela (b. 1986, Las Vegas) is an interdisciplinary artist whose innovative use of hand-crafted processes has shaped new conversations in contemporary art, blending humor with keen observations of popular culture and art history to interrogate Latinx identity, cultural appropriation, and the layered histories of his Mexican and Guatemalan heritage. At the core of his art practice is his investigation of traditional Mexican and Latin American craft—specifically cartonería (more commonly known as piñata-making).
Favela will be in residence creating his new installation in the Eric Dean Gallery and engaging with students and community from January 18 – February 5. There will be public workshops where the community can engage with the process of his work, a public lecture, and opportunities to engage with Favela while he is on campus.
Justin has become recognized for his wall sculptures and large-scale installations that combine an obsession with pop culture with a side-eye towards art history—imagine a life-size piñata-style lowrider sculpture, or an entire gallery covered floor-to-ceiling with a fringed tissue paper installation remixing José María Velasco’s landscape painting. This conversation about art and culture with the broader public is important to Justin’s practice. His groundbreaking podcast, Latinos Who Lunch (on which he is known as “Favy Fav”), is a collaboration with art historian, curator, and friend Emmanuel Ortega (aka “Babelito”). Over its five-year run, Latinos Who Lunch has expanded the dialogue at the intersection of art and Latinx representation and identity for audiences across America.
Justin’s work has been the subject of dozens of institutional exhibitions since 2007. In 2025, he presented solo exhibitions at the New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, CT, and the Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS. His room-sized installation, Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel) id currently on exhibit at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., through 2026. His work has been acquired by many public and private collections. He has completed major commissioned projects for museums including the Denver Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, and El Museo del Barrio. He has participated in numerous residencies and has curated exhibitions and co-produced unique projects like Live in America. He is the recipient of the 2018 Alan Turing LGBTQI Award for International Artist, and a recipient of the 2021 Joan Mitchell Fellowship. He holds a BFA in fine art from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Artist Statement:
As a multidisciplinary artist, I am interested in exploring the notions of authenticity, place, and identity using familiar materials to make large-scale installations, sculptures, and paintings. My interest in art history, Latinx culture, community, celebration, home, and my obsession with pop culture inform my practice with the intention of dismantling institutional hierarchies.
2027 Senior ART Exhibition
April 26 – May 17(commencement)
Opening Reception, Saturday, April 26, 4 – 5:30 pm
This exhibition is a critical final rite of passage for the talented artists who have dedicated their academic focus to the visual arts.
Gregory J. Huebner Gallery
The Gregory J. Huebner Gallery is in the Randolph H. Deer Art Wing in the Fine Arts Center. The Huebner Gallery features a rotating exhibition of works from the Wabash permanent collection and is open during building hours.
Questions about fieldtrips/group visits and inquiries can be sent to stradera@wabash.edu