Opening Reflections Reception: Thursday, September 5th, 4 – 6 pm

Artist/Curator Talk: Thursday, October 3rd, 4 – 5 pm

The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University proudly presents Reflections: Portraits and Self-Portraits from NIAD Art Center, an exhibition curated by Executive Director Amanda Eicher, and Board Member Jay Youngdahl. Artists in their own right, Amanda and Jay are regular conversation partners with the studio artists at NIAD, finding an evocative and lasting dialogue with practices of self-representation and the question of representation itself.

Since 1982, NIAD has worked with artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and care providers in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. NIAD provides a five-day studio and community engagement program and a six-day exhibitions program, creating a platform by, with, and for artists to amplify inclusion in the contemporary art world.

The artists included in Reflections have developed singular styles over their years in NIAD’s collective studio space, often reflecting inward to portray the self through individualized expressions using various media. Bringing these investigations into the same space, the curators have organized them into four groupings – Faces, Places, Sounds, and Soft – the area where figuration meets abstraction. In the pieces from Jay Youngdahl’s collection, the categories often meet and intermingle with each other, bringing in references that are cultural, biographical, and individual.

Reflections aims to allow artists to introduce themselves through their work and to engage with the Sonoma State community. The University Art Gallery is grateful to these NIAD artists, curators, and their staff for the opportunity to experience the collective power of these artists’ practices as portrayed in Reflections.

Reflections Programing Notes:

• Opening Reception – Thursday, September 5th, 4:00 – 6:00 pm
The opening reception is free and open to the public. Visitors driving to the SSU campus must purchase a $5-8 parking pass from any automated parking kiosk.

• Artist/Curator Talk – Thursday, October 3rd, 4:00 – 5:00 pm  (Immediately followed by the Fall Gallery Gathering 2024 community event, from 5:00 – 7:00 pm).

Free and open to all. Visitors driving to the SSU campus must purchase a $5-8 parking pass from any automated parking kiosk.