Plein-air beauty: Léone Worden
June 7 through August 8, 2025
Léone Elizabeth Worden (b. 1907, St. Paul, Minn.; d. 1999, Olean, N.Y.) was known for her vibrant plein-air landscapes and evocative still-life works, created between the 1930s and early 1960s. The exhibit will showcase a wide array of her artistic expressions, ranging from graphite and charcoal sketches to pastels, watercolors, and oils. Many of the pieces on display reflect her deep connection to rural Western New York, where she often painted while exploring the countryside with her husband, 鶹ӳ biology professor Dr. John L. Worden, and fellow local artists.
Connectivity
Spring 2025
"Connectivity," curated by Gary Keem, '69, features more than 50 pieces, many by noted artists Rick Dillingham (1952-1994) and Joseph Orffeo (1926-2013).
"This exhibition celebrates the relationships of ties that bind formal elements of composition, shape and color," said Paula Bernstein, assistant director at the Quick Center.
Dillingham's ceramic art was deeply rooted in his profound respect for Native American pottery, particularly that of the Ancestral Puebloans. His signature "broken pot" technique, where he would create, break, and then reconstruct vessels, became a powerful expression of this connection. While respecting traditional forms and designs, Dillingham also explored contemporary themes, as illustrated by his “Gas Can” series. In addition to his artistic contributions, he was a respected scholar, curator, and collector of Pueblo pottery.
Orffeo's art masterfully blends abstractionist techniques with modern influences, creating a compelling body of work. His Buffalo origins are evident, reflecting both regional influences and inspiration from artists like Robert Blair and Charles Burchfield. A constant experimenter across various media, Orffeo continually sought new avenues for artistic expression. Exhibitions at respected institutions like the Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts and the Smith Art Museum confirm his wider acclaim. His ability to balance abstraction with modernist principles speaks to the evolving trends in mid-20th century American art.
Climate Conversations: The Language of Trees
Spring 2025
Inspired by a lifetime of being outdoors, Wil Bosbyshell's art celebrates the intimate connection between humans and the natural environment, particularly trees.
Bosbyshell views trees not as abstract objects but as individual living beings with their own stories. His art seeks to bring these stories to life, prompting reflection on how nature serves our needs and, importantly, how we can reciprocate by protecting and honoring the natural world.
This interactive collection featured large-scale drawings, silk screen monoprints, and banners, all of which invited participation. Visitors could touch the fabric tree hangings as they walked through the exhibit, or they could jot down a thought and hang it on the Memory Tree. A poster filled with “tree memories” was free for each visitor.
Hand and Spirit: A collection of contemporary artwork, this exhibition brings to life the culture of the American Southwest.
Fall 2024
This exhibition featured a collection of modern Kachinas, 27 paintings and drawings, as well as more than 60 pieces of pottery created by artists whose families have been creating traditional pottery for hundreds of years. The collection was bequeathed to the Quick Center by the late David Van Buren, a 1969 鶹ӳ graduate and longtime criminal justice professor at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Van Buren fell in love with the American Southwest while serving as a visiting scholar at Northern Arizona University, researching peacemaking and the tribal courts of the Navajo Nation.
Hunger and Resilience: A Traveling Exhibition by Photographer Michael Nye
Fall 2024
In collaboration with University Ministries and the 50th anniversary of the Warming House, the Quick Center presented the photographic exhibition "鶹ӳ Hunger and Resilience." Through the gift of images and presence, each eloquent voice drew us into deeper understanding. Why did Cornelius go hungry? What does it feel like for Tiffany or Tia to walk by a restaurant or grocery store? Can anyone understand the life of another person? As Michael Nye says, these stories are about all of us as we live with our uncertainties. Michael believes that his subjects are teachers, and we are their students. Each face, each voice, invites you to listen.
American Revolution Experience Traveling Exhibition
A collaborative project of the American Battlefield Trust and the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
Spring 2024Sponsored by the Olean Chapter of the DAR, this innovative pop-up exhibition featured display panels and interactive kiosks that tell the story of the birth of the nation. It included 12 panels highlighting thematic connections between profiled individuals and three interactive kiosks that connected to the full digital biographies, provided documentary context on the Revolutionary War, and offered information on how to visit the places tied to these individuals today. It featured custom illustrations by South Carolina-based artist Dale Watson, and drew from documents and objects in DAR’s collection, as well as the Trust’s industry leading digital interpretation resources.
Ground Zero 360
Fall 2023
This internationally acclaimed exhibition conveys the chaos, courage and emotion of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. It honors the victims of 9/11 and the valor of New York City police officers, firefighters and rescue workers who rushed to the World Trade Center in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. The brainchild of Nicola McClean, a photojournalist who was working in New York City on 9/11, and her husband, Paul McCormack, a retired inspector with the New York Police Department, the exhibition features artwork created by artists from around the world to commemorate the day.
Mary Lou Alexander: A Retrospective
Spring 2023
This exhibition featured the work of Mary Lou Alexander, a fiber artist from Hubbard, Ohio, who left her first career as a professor of biological sciences at Kent State University to become a full-time fiber artist. Like a scientist, Alexander experiments
with different surface design techniques, such as screenprinting, low-water immersion and stenciling. She has learned shibori-dyeing processes and has experimented with shaping silk fabrics into three dimensional pieces.
The Willard Suitcases
Fall 2022
This exhibition came about after the closing of the Willard Psychiatric Hospital in the Finger Lakes region of New York state in 1995. Employees tasked with cleaning out the building found hundreds of suitcases in an attic of an abandoned building.
Many of them appeared untouched since their owners, patients at Willard, brought them to the institution several decades earlier. Organized by photographer Jon Crispin, the exhibition featured 30 framed photographs and text panels about 10 patients
whose suitcases survived, written by Dr. Karen L. Miller, a psychiatrist who conducted research at the New York State Archives in connection with this project. A panel discussion was held in conjunction with the exhibition.
Chris Walters' Finger Lakes Photographs
Fall 2022
This exhibition featured a selection of photographs from the Finger Lakes region of New York by Chris Walters of Corning. An excerpt from Walters’ artist statement encourages the viewer to “embrace the beauty and sanctity in both the photograph
itself and the act of viewing it.” Working and exhibiting regionally since 2013, Walters' landscapes of the Finger Lakes, their waterfalls, lakeside sunsets and small communities have won awards and been published in F-Stop magazine and Life
in the Finger Lakes Magazine.
Microcosm: Art Photographers Beatrice Pediconi & Yasuko Oki
Fall 2019
This photography exhibition featured the works of internationally recognized art photographers Beatrice Pediconi
and Yasuko Oki. It was curated by fine arts photographer Barbara Luisi, whose work has previously been featured in Quick Center exhibitions. Italian artist Pediconi, an architect by training, “paints” on the surface of water, then captures
the quickly changing images photographically. Oki is a Japanese pinhole photographer who captures wonderful sights that can't be seen through normal vision. Her technique is to use her pinhole camera to look at something through a clear bottle of water.
A gallery talk was presented by Pediconi and Luisi.
The Sculpture of Conrad Levenson
Fall 2019
Conrad Levenson salvages scrap materials and obsolete objects, repurposing and recomposing them as works of art, while
combining previously unrelated elements in unusual and unexpected ways. The sculptures evoke the former times, places, lives, unique character, and the embedded energy of their source materials. This exhibition featured 14 pieces from his collection of
works. The artist visited campus for a gallery talk.
Out of Darkness: Putting a Face on Homelessness — Portraits by Gary Wolfe
Fall 2019
This portrait series by Buffalo-area artist Gary L. Wolfe, painted
over a two-year period, featured homeless people who Wolfe connected with in order to raise public awareness of the plight of the homeless. He sought to portray those whose dignity is evident in spite of their assumed powerlessness and vulnerability.
Wolfe and Karen Carman of the Matt Urban Hope Center in Buffalo gave a gallery talk about the portrait series and the problems surrounding the homeless. They were jointed by a few of the people who sat for portraits with the artist.
Prints by Jean Carzou, French-Armenian Artist, Painter and Illustrator
Spring 2019
Jean Carzou (Armenian 1907–2000) was a French–Armenian artist, painter, and illustrator, whose work illustrated the novels of Ernest Hemingway and Albert Camus. He was educated in Cairo, Egypt, before moving
to Paris in 1924 to study architecture. He started working as a theater decorator but quickly realized he preferred drawing and painting. In 1938, more than a hundred exhibitions of his works were organized in Paris, in the French provinces and abroad.
In 1949, he received the coveted Hallmark prize. He was also awarded the National Order of Merit of France. A museum dedicated to his work is in the town of Dinard, France.
The Light/The Shade: One-a-Day Paintings by Abbey Ryan
Spring 2019
Recognized for her practice of completing a painting a day, Abbey Ryan, associate professor at Arcadia University, displayed a collection of work that Ryan created while visiting the Greek Island of Patmos. The exhibition featured 14 landscapes
and still-life paintings in oil on linen. Patmos served as the longtime home of the American poet and Olean native Robert Lax (1915-2000), whose singular form of minimalist poetry and seemingly solitary existence inspired Ryan to start the light/the shade
series in 2012. Her work is set to poetry by Lax.
Coming Home: A Photographer Looks at a Revitalized Olean
Fall 2018
Raised in Olean, Patrick Schwabenbauer joined the U.S. Navy after high school. He traveled
the Mediterranean, to Spain, Italy and North Africa, taking photos along the way. After the service, he returned to Olean, attended Jamestown Community College, then worked for NASA as an aerospace computer engineer. He returned to Olean in 2005 because
of complications related to his disability. An accident left him paralyzed and unable to walk. With more free time, he picked up his camera, turning a passing hobby into a passion.
Holiness and the Feminine Spirit: The Art of Janet McKenzie
Fall 2018
McKenzie's paintings offer a new and diverse view of women and religion, and she explores diversity, children and symbolic imagery in her work. Reproductions of her art are regularly carried in demonstrations and marches across the U.S. as visual testaments
in support of racial equality and as a voice against prejudice, women's rights and the LGBTQ community.
Jess! Watercolors & Inks by Jess Pfohl
Spring 2018
Drawings and watercolor works by Jess Pfohl, who
earned a degree in journalism and mass communication from SBU in 2006. A self-taught artist, she has worked with many artists in a range of mediums including film, photography, textiles and music.
Arabesque: Works by Liz Whitney Quisgard
Fall 2017 - Spring 2018
Quisgard, an American artist who lives and works in New York City, was schooled at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her work has been viewed in dozens of public collections in the U.S. and in museum collections on two continents. This exhibition
featured textile works along with some of Quisgard's most famous architectural pieces, paintings and sculptures depicting a quasi-imaginary world where everything is covered in an ornamental design reminiscent of Arabic or Moorish decoration.
Kimono — Japan's Woven History
2017-2018
This exhibition featured all types of kimonos and the traditions and history surrounding these beautiful textiles. It was curated by Dr. Chisato O. Dubreuil, associate professor
of art history at 鶹ӳ, a former curator at the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution.
The Spiritual South: Photographs by Barbara Luisi
Fall of 2017
Photographs of ancient
cave churches were featured in this exhibition of works by world renowned fine art photographer Barbara Luisi. While searching for ancient olive trees in the Italian South of Apulia, Luisi came across spiritual and sacred places, including cave churches
dating back to 1000 a.c. The exhibition opened with an artist's talk.
We The People: An Album of the Chinese People
Fall of 2017
This exhibition featured a collection of photographs by Zola Cao, a Chinese
photographer and writer, whose work reflects his deep love for the Chinese people's daily lives. With a background in medicine, the Chinese army and later in business management, Cao began to develop his creative side by combining photography and writing.
Cao was the 2017 Lenna Visiting Professor at 鶹ӳ. The exhibition included an artist's talk.
Takujututit Inuit: Art from the Baffin Island area, Nunavut, Canada
Fall of 2017
This
exhibition featured the work of several Inuit artists from the Baffin Island area in Nunavut, Canada. Incorporating different mediums, the exhibition explored how the materials used by the artists and the content of their work is shaped by the environment
and culture of the Inuit. The exhibition was curated by Gwendolyn Brown, a dual American-Canadian citizen and a student at Ontario College of Art & Design.
Merton & Lax: Imagery and Word
2017
This exhibition featured some never-before-seen works by Thomas Merton and Robert Lax, devoted friends and world renowned writers. The two met in 1935 at Columbia University, where they wrote for the student humor magazine. Lax, an Olean native, brought
Merton to his family's cottage outside Olean, where they spent the summers of 1939 and 1940. After graduating from Columbia, Merton taught English at 鶹ӳ (1940-1941), while Lax went to work for the New Yorker magazine. Merton (1915 –
1968) became a well-known Catholic writer, theologian and mystic, poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion. Lax (1915 — 2000) taught English at the University of North Carolina, then set off to find a simpler life. After writing
for The New Yorker, he was poetry editor at Time magazine, had a stint as a Hollywood scriptwriter, and even traveled with a circus as a juggler. He would eventually land on the Greek island of Patmos, living out the rest of his life writing poetry as
he sought a life of simplicity, humility and grace.
Cambier's Paris: Scenes of Paris by artist Pierre Eugene Cambier; Part of the F. Donald Kenney Print Collection
Fall '16 & Spring '17 Semesters
Cambier worked almost exclusively in watercolor and his work was first exhibited at the Salon des Independents in Paris in 1948. Represented by galleries in Paris, London and Amsterdam, Cambier taught drawing and painting to budding artists in Paris
until his death in 2000. F. Donald Kenney (1918-1997) was a native of Olean, N.Y., who served as chairman of Goldman Sach International Corporation and chairman of the board of the National Academy Museum and the School of Fine Arts. He served as
a trustee of 鶹ӳ from 1989 until his death. He left nearly his entire art collection, more than 1,000 works, to the university. Within the Kenney collection can be found works by the most renowned artists of the 20th century,
including Picasso, Braque, Cocteau and Miró.
Spectral Gestures: Non-figurative Works from the F. Donald Kenney Collection
Fall '16 & Spring '17 Semesters
This exhibition featured examples of mid-20th
century non-figurative works collected by F. Donald Kenney (See "Cambier's Paris" entry above) during his lifetime including pieces from both the Abstract Expressionism (American influences) or Art Informel (Western-European Influences) movements, along
with their sub-genres of Action, Field Color, Tachisme and Automatism.
Dressing for the Stage: Costumes by Howard Tsvi Kaplan for Theater, Opera, Musicals and the Circus
Fall Semester 2017
This exhibition
featured costumes and drawings chronicling the 34-year career of Howard Tsvi Kaplan, from his early days with Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College to his most recent work as resident costume designer with Sarasota Opera, Sarasota, Fla.
Kaplan was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for his work with the Olney Theatre production of "Man of La Mancha" in 2001, and is a three-time winner of the Sarasota Herald Tribune Handy Award. Kaplan gave a talk at the Sept. 15 opening, which included
a dinner on stage.
Camino de Santiago: The Journey Through Photographs
Fall Semester 2017
This exhibition featured photographs of Camino de Santiago, the 500-mile pilgrimage from southern France to
the coast of Spain, a route walked by Saint Francis of Assisi more than 800 years ago. The photographs, taken by Michael Kunzinger, were accompanied by text contributed by his father, Bob Kunzinger, a 1983 graduate of 鶹ӳ. Bob Kunzinger share
additional information about the pilgrimage in a free gallery talk.
Michael Lenson: Public and Private
Michael Lenson (1903-1971), one of America's most important realist painters, was born in Russia and emigrated to America
in 1911. In 1928, he won the coveted $10,000 Chaloner Paris Prize, which paid for four years of study in Paris, London and the Netherlands. During the Great Depression, he became director of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) mural projects for the
state of New Jersey, completing major mural projects in Newark and elsewhere. This exhibit featured his public paintings as well as private works — his portrayal of family and friends, their love, work, triumphs and tragedies.
Art Quilt Exhibition: People and Portraits
People and Portraits celebrated the expressiveness of the human face in stunning quilts created by an international array of 20 artists. The diverse designs focused on a variety of both emotional states and the ways in which people interact: contemplation,
joy, community, work and play. The exhibition of 40 quilts came to the Quick Center from the Studio Art Quilt Association, an international organization that promotes the art of quilting.
Hardtack Regiment, the 154th New York Volunteer Infantry
A collection of artifacts from members of the 154th Regiment on loan from Mark Dunkleman, regimental historian. The 154th New York was one of hundreds of Union army regiments raised in the North in the summer of 1862 in response to President Lincoln’s
call for volunteers. The regiment was gathered from men of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties and saw many civil war battles including Chancellorsville, Gettysburg and Atlanta.
Turning Left at the Intersection: Current Work by David Haack, O.F.M.
After retiring in 2013 from teaching art history and studio art at 鶹ӳ, Br. David set up the Haack Studiolo, a Latin word meaning room for meditation and study. He is still developing as an artist, said Br. David, and this exhibition
showcased his most current work.
Riparazioni: Meditations on the Fullness of Being (Women)
Artist: Anne T. Kmieck
This exhibition contained dresses and object ensembles of women throughout history, whose vitality
and scholarly interventions went far beyond that of the men of their time.
On Nature's Terms
Thomas Paquette's paintings in On Nature's Terms were inspired by his journeys to federal wilderness areas all across the country.
Contemporary Woodblock Prints
Buffalo artist, Catherine Shuman Miller has created a series of woodblock prints that interpret the Hamsah, (symbol of the hand, and a good luck charm) with playfulness and humor.
La Ofrenda: Day of the Dead
Over hundreds of years, the Day of the Dead has become a part of the Catholic tradition in many Latin American countries, as a time to remember family and friends who have passed on.
Barbara Luisi: Pearls, Tears of the Sea & Glowing Nights
Internationally acclaimed fine arts photographer Barbara Luisi launched two contrasting retrospective exhibitions with an artist's talk in September of 2013: “Pearls, Tears of the Sea,” which featured underwater photography. It also
featured the display of pearls by Mastoloni Pearls of New York City; and "Glowing Nights,” featuring artificial light photography.
Ellen Steinfeld: Explorations
This exhibition included various pieces from
Steinfeld's advanced repertoire of imagery and techniques including abstracted, painted "plates," sculpture and handmade paper pieces. Steinfeld has received numerous large-scale commissions including a monumental 18-foot steel sculpture for the
atrium of Roswell Park Cancer Institute and a commission to design 16 large stained glass windows for Christ Church in Detroit. A Steinfeld sculpture greets travelers at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. She has also produced a design for Absolut
Vodka in a campaign that raised money for AIDS research.
House & Home
Drawn from the flagship installation at The National Building Museum, "House & Home" explored the varied history and many cultural meanings
of the American home. Visitors experienced how our ideal of the perfect house and our experience of what it means to “be at home” have changed over time. The exhibition included domestic furnishings and home construction materials, photographs,
“please touch” interactive components, and films.
Ray Klausen: A Retrospective From Hollywood to Broadway
This exhibition featured work of the Emmy award winning set designer, whose work includes a long resume
of theatre and television credits. Klausen earned 12 Emmy nominations and three Emmy awards for set designs (two for The Academy Awards and one for the Cher television series). On display were various set designs constructed during Klausen’s
prolific career including miniature sets for "On Golden Pond" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." Also featured were images of Klausen’s television sets as well as play bills and lobby cards.
University Art Collection: Up Close and Personal with Savonarola Preaching Against Luxury
This exhibition featured an up close, eye-level look at Ludwig von Langenmantel’s 1879 masterpiece, Savonarola Preaching Against Prodigality. Acquired by the university in 1932, this large painting was formerly installed over the fireplace in
the Reference Hall of the Friedsam Memorial Library and was the focus around which the architect planned the room. It was displayed in the exhibition Money & Beauty: Bankers, Botticelli, and the Bonfire of the Vanities at the Palazzo Strozzi
in Florence, Italy, where it was seen by approximately 85,000 visitors. It is one of the only Langenmantel works still available for public view in the world.
Claire Wagner Kosterlitz: A Bauhaus Artist in America
Born
Edeltraut Clara Wagner, Kosterliz was educated in the arts throughout her life in both Germany and the United States including seven years of private art lessons and time spent at the Bauhaus Dessau and Art Students League in New York City. Her work has
been shown in numerous libraries, universities, and museums including the Bauhaus Archive, Museum of Modern Art, Rutgers University, and the Jewish Museum of New Jersey.