By Aaron Vankirk, ’26 staff writer
Local artist Stephen Althouse’s exhibition “Gscharre und Leichdüche” (Tools and Shrouds) will be featured at the Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery.
Althouse will be displaying large-scale photographs of sculptures he has created and tools he has discovered while immersing himself in different cultures. The common thread between all these pieces is the relationship the objects have with their purpose, whether that is labor, war, aesthetics or even religion.
“He thinks about humanity and how the tools we use for work are often also used for war,” Barbara McNulty, director of the gallery, said. “He (Althouse) thinks that today our clothes and items don’t have the same soul that they used to.”
The pieces have been created using large plate photography which is then scanned and altered digitally to further enhance the message of the pieces, such as adding text.
Setting up the gallery has been a very collaborative process for those involved, including students. Last year McNulty taught in “History of the Photo” where her students wrote many of the labels for Althouse’s pieces that are being shown currently. Among the other students that have been crucial in setting up the exhibition are the gallery interns Sophia Bunting, Caitlyn Klein and Jack Mclain.
Klein, who grew up with a large Amish community nearby felt a connection to the exhibition, which features many Amish tools and motifs, as Althouse has been interested in the culture and even now lives in Bucks County with friends inside the Amish community.
“I have taken three years of German in High School and two in college, I did grow up with the Amish Community nearby,” Klein said. “I met the artist, and he was very nice, down to earth and interested in the subject.”
If you plan on visiting the Exhibition, it will be featured from Aug. 25 – Oct. 22. The gallery is open 5-8 p.m. on Wednesday, 1-4:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday and 11a.m. –5p.m. Saturday-Sunday.