A July 2024 visit to the Peterson Planetarium for Katherine Iselin, interim art director, and her family was the start of an unexpected series of events and discoveries that led to a collaboration to bring science-based art and photography to the Eppink Art Gallery’s “Art of a Modern Age” exhibit. It was at the planetarium that Iselin noticed prints by Étienne Léopold Trouvelot, a late 1800s artist who blended his astronomical observations with his artwork, eventually producing more than 7,000 prints over his lifetime. Knowing these would be good candidates for her upcoming “Art of a Modern Age” exhibit, Iselin reached out to Mark Brown, director of the Peterson Planetarium, to see if he would be interested in collaborating.
Not only was he interested in sharing the Trouvelot art, which remains a mystery as to how it made its way to ESU, but when Iselin learned that Brown’s own photography mirrored Trouvelot’s work, he was also willing to include his personal night sky photography in the show. Visitors to the Eppink Art Gallery can now see the 19th-century and the 21st-century art side-by-side as part of the “Art of a Modern Age” exhibit that runs through Thursday, Nov. 21.
A second art-meets-science unexpected showcase came in the form of maps. Rich Sleezer, earth science professor, shared a collection of geography maps from the 1930s with Iselin. These maps are an early representation of screen printing in the United States, and several were included as part of the exhibit.
The exhibit features pieces from the art program that have limited information available about them. The research to identify the art fell to ESU art education major and art history minor Olivia Willis, who was part of an art micro-internship. The showcase itself was pulled off by Stephanie Alaniz, gallery and outreach director, who, along with the gallery team, made the exhibit a highlight of Emporia State’s fall outreach initiatives.
Regular hours for the Eppink and Gilson art galleries, located in King Hall, are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information on Peterson Planetarium, including the new fulldome presentation “FORWARD! To the Moon,” visit emporia.edu/planetarium.