Featured Exhibit
I'm So Bored with the USA
Gregg Deal, (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe) is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and "disruptor." I Am So Bored With The USA by Deal unapologetically reclaims Indigenous narratives, challenging the dominance of colonial histories. Heavily influenced by punk culture, the exhibition title references The Clash’s song “I’m So Bored With the U.S.A.” Deal’s art dismantles stereotypes and questions the erasure of Indigenous identity in mainstream culture.
His practice—spanning painting, sculpture, performance art, and music—operates as a potent protest. This exhibition brings forward the strength of Indigenous voices and the resilience that shapes them, positioning Indigenous representation not just as inclusion but as reclamation.
A special Art in Context lecture with Gregg Deal on Feb. 4 at 4:45 pm with a reception to follow. This event is free and open to the public.
Invisible Loss Movement, 2008 performance by Sage Deal and Gregg Deal
Events
Zine Workshop led by Jess Meoni, Community Organizer, Scranton Punk Collective
Join us for a free zine-making workshop by Jess Meoni, Community Organizer, Scranton Punk Collective. No experience is necessary and all materials will be provided. Space is limited. Please register with melissa.carestia@wilkes.edu. This workshop is intended for adults college-aged and older.
A mover-and-shaker from Northeast Pennsylvania, Jess Meoni creates platforms and programs for communities by implementing her skills as a graphic designer, organizer, photographer, writer, and educator. An advocate for socially-charged design, Meoni devotes much of her career to researching the history and artistic impact of the underground press, as well as other acts of radicalism and revolution. She has presented her graduate thesis, The Graphic Design Techniques and Cultural History of Radical Publications in both Seattle and Boston. She is involved in making zines, self-publishing her music and activism work since 2008, and is credited with establishing The Scranton Punk Rock Flea Market and Zine Fest in 2010. Since then, Jess has launched several successful TEDx Talk conferences, the all-women open mic known as Grrrls Night, and also became the co-founder of Second Banana Co., an alternative textile business that creates patches, buttons, stickers and more. Meoni received her Bachelor of Fine Art in 2012 and her Masters of Fine Art in 2015, both in graphic design from Marywood University. She currently works and lives in Scranton, PA.
Second Saturday Family Hour: “All About Me” Zine
Join us as we create zines inspired by ourselves. A lot of Gregg Deal’s work explores his identity. This theme, along with the influence of punk culture, is the perfect mixture for a zine, a self-made magazine!
Using collage and drawing materials, kids will create a zine while thinking about who they are.
Don’t forget to join us for storytime with the Osterhout Free Library at 1 PM!
Art in Context Lecture Series: “Catlin Revisited: Interpreting the Artist and His Legacy from Indigenous America” by Julia Grummitt, PhD
Artist George Catlin was born in Wilkes-Barre in 1796 and dedicated much of his career to depicting Native American life and culture, becoming the best-known “Indian painter” of the nineteenth-century United States. Catlin’s paintings aimed to preserve the traditions of Indigenous peoples facing displacement but also perpetuated racial stereotypes and reflected the colonial attitudes of his era. This presentation will examine Catlin’s complex legacy, tracing evolving scholarly interpretations of his work and highlighting how contemporary Indigenous artists engage with Catlin’s imagery to reframe persistent historical narratives and challenge ongoing legacies of colonization. These perspectives offer new insights into Catlin’s role in shaping representation and identity in Indigenous art.