Julia Dzikiewicz, / Alexandria, Virginia, "The Story of Ham," encaustic mixed media, 60"x 60"
The international “FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Social & Politically Engaged Art” at East Tennessee State University’s Reece Museum continues to represent the spirit of social and political movements of the country and world. The 2022 exhibition runs Oct. 3-Dec. 9.
The 2022 juror is Wesam Mazhar Haddad, a conceptualizer, creative and art director, designer and the founder and curator of the New Jersey-based annual intercontinental poster competition known as Poster Stellars.
Haddad is a social poster designer and has won more than 70 global awards. Haddad’s universal visuals “evoke an everlasting siren that touches every single human no matter their ethical/ cultural background,” organizers said.
“There will be no general theme for entries except a focus on social and politically engaged artworks,” said co-directors Barb, Wayne and Carrie Dyer, who established the exhibition in memory of their son and brother, Fletcher H. Dyer, a senior ETSU Art and Design student who was in a fatal motorcycle accident in 2009. “However, this year’s exhibition will especially honor visual works depicting protection of human rights including women’s rights, gun violence reform and the invasion of Ukraine.”
“As an artist and graphic designer, Fletcher’s passion for art was a vehicle that allowed him to mirror his passion and marry it to his concern for social and political issues through visual means,” said Fletcher’s mother, Barb, a children’s advocacy attorney. “Fletcher was always curious and aware of current events. He experimented with innovative ways to create works that investigate contemporary social issues. The ‘FL3TCH3R Exhibit’ aspires to honor Fletcher’s legacy by providing a venue for artists to exhibit artworks that continue the dialogue.”
In addition to a focus on the protection of human rights, the Dyers continue to support artwork focusing on protection of voting rights and systemic racism.
“The co-directors of the exhibition denounce racist structures, constructs and daily subconscious oppression especially as constitutional rights are affected. We are working and committed to a lifelong pursuit of learning about racism and working to dismantle these systems especially as they affect voting and other constitutional rights,” said co-director Carrie Dyer, a graphic design faculty member at High Point University in North Carolina. “The ‘FL3TCH3R Exhibit’ is dedicated to supporting people of color after 401 years of systematic racism.”
This year, two new awards will be given to artists, including a celebratory award to honor the exhibition’s 10th anniversary and another to support visual arts concerning protection of human rights.
“The exhibition’s more than $2,000 in awards will be announced and presented at the exhibition reception and juror talk at ETSU’s Reece Museum Thursday, Nov. 3, beginning at 5 p.m.,” said Fletcher’s father and retired ETSU Art and Design faculty member and Professor Emeritus M. Wayne Dyer, exhibition co-director.
“The Reece is proud to once again welcome the ‘FL3TCH3R Exhibit’ to the museum. Now more than ever, providing a welcoming space for these social and political works to be viewed, experienced and discussed is so very important,” said Rebecca Proffitt, museum director.
To learn more about the exhibition and submissions, visit FL3TCH3Rexhibit.com.
The Reece Museum is a unit of the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services. The Reece Museum is located on the campus of ETSU and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit etsu.edu/reece?or call?(423) 439-4392.
