Finding the Level

Finding the Level is an exhibition of new work by Olivia Gorman ’22 and Ry Watkins ’23, both of whom received an Alice C. Cole ’42 Studio Project Grant in 2024.

Olivia Gorman’s drawing installation invites viewers to engage in slow contemplation. The lines of the drawing result from meticulously removing threads from the canvas by hand; the resulting accumulation of marks is a visible record of time and labor. These lines are formed by subtraction, and the support is revealed to be both the solid base of the drawing and a porous frame supporting portals to a space beyond what is initially perceived.

Ry Watkins’ immersive multimedia installation explores the multivalent relationship between Black Southern history, culture, and water. Simultaneously a force for reverence/joy and trauma/sorrow, waterways have been the sites of journeys, labor, the sacred and the human. Watkins’ work brings together sculptures, found objects and material, photography, printmaking, and more to speak to the complexity and richness of the way water flows through the life and history of the Black American South.

The Alice C. Cole ’42 Studio Project Grant provides project-based support to recent Wellesley College graduates for the development, production, and exhibition of new work in painting and sculpture, whatever those disciplines may mean to the artist. The fund enables promising recent graduates to set aside time for artistic development as well as to purchase materials, rent studio space, or access facilities for the creation of new projects.

This exhibition will be on view in the Jewett Art Gallery from Jan. 20 – Feb. 20, 2026. The Gallery, located on the main floor of the Jewett Arts Center at Wellesley College, is open to the public 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, 7 days a week for the duration of the show. The Gallery is free to visit. Visitors driving to campus should park in the Davis Parking Facility near the Central St. entrance to campus and walk to Jewett from there; see the campus map here.

To arrange a guided tour of the exhibition, or for more information, contact Gallery Director Samara Pearlstein at 781-283-2043 or spearls2@wellesley.edu.