Dusk to Dusk: Captured Conversations

This exhibit, which examined “individual isolation, political repression and collective ennui during the decline of the industrial age,” elicited a range of responses from visitors. Dr. Patrice Rankine, dean of arts and humanities, collected and curated some of these responses in the audio series “Captured Conversations.” Faculty were asked to reflect on the work, and Rankine extended a similar invitation to students and staff. 

Learn more about the recordings

At the heart of the recordings is Hope College’s dual mission of being a high-caliber academic institution and also distinctly Christian. Each faculty member brings their disciplinary perspectives to the art as well as their faith, and the conversations reflect both. Given the historical moment reflected in the exhibit, the question of how we, as a Christian community, engage with and respond to an exhibit that might seem to some to depict a bleak and hopeless worldview is central to this exercise.

Each respondent was asked to consider three issues:

• Philosophical underpinning: How do you feel about the work? Does it trigger any reflections about God or a perceived absence?
• The human: What commentary does the work offer on gender, race, class, or other aspects of current historical realities?
• Disciplinary lenses: How do you view the work as a philosopher, theologian, sociologist, and so on?

"Dusk to Dusk" was supported by the West Michigan Global Initiative. The art came from a private collection and was on display at Hope College and Grand Valley State University.

“Dusk to Dusk” was organized by the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University, curated by Richard Rinehart, director of the Samek Art Gallery, with works generously loaned from The Ekard Collection. The exhibition is toured by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions of Pasadena, California.