Robert Graham Carter: The Art of Reflection
On view through September 27, 2025
Location: Cressman Center for Visual Arts
Robert Graham Carter (b. 1938) is a visual artist best known for his mixed-media works including commanding drawings; sculptural, high-relief paintings; and whimsical works on wood. Carter’s figurative compositions routinely speak to systemic societal issues with a specificity derived from his lived experiences. Created over the last sixty years drawing influence from his upbringing in the Jim Crow South, Robert’s figurative compositions balance personal and universal truths, with a focus on topics pertinent to the African-American condition: the joy and importance of family, the legacy of segregation, the charm of childhood, the spiritual and corporal force that is the Black church, and the impression of Blackface on American culture. This 2025 presentation explores his studio practice and his unique painterly voice as it traces overarching impactful themes from his lifelong career. Conceived in direct collaboration with the artist, this exhibition is curated by Sarah Battle, research curator at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, with support from Camille Pratt, artist, and digitization specialist at Digital Transitions-Pixel Acuity.
Doing Americana: Photography, Mythology, and the American Dream
On view through October 31, 2025
Location: Schneider Hall Galleries | University of Louisville
Drawing from the University of Louisville Photographic Archives' extensive Standard Oil (New Jersey) and Fine Print collections, Doing Americana: Photography, Mythology, and the American Dream peels back the layers of the seemingly natural myth of the American “good life.” Collaboratively curated by a mixed undergraduate and graduate class in the Spring of 2025, this exhibition invites viewers to look closer at how photography has helped shape American ideals of nationhood, domesticity, labor, and freedom. In the images presented, nostalgia and patriotism collide to paint an outwardly harmonious picture of the American Dream, subtly smoothing over the cracks and empty promises of a dream few Americans are able to fully achieve.