May 25, 2023
The MCLA Arts & Culture (MAC) 2022-2023 Benedetti Teaching Artist in Residence, WANG Chen, will debut a solo exhibition “Fractured Delights” during an opening reception on Friday, June 2 from 5 to 8 p.m., coinciding with North Adams’ FIRST Friday event.
The exhibition will be on view through July 14 at Gallery 51. The opening reception is free and open to the public.
“Fractured Delights” is an exhibit that culminates Chen’s academic year in residency at MCLA. Chen’s practice blends digital video, performance, 3D game design, sculpture, drawing, costume, and sound design to create captivating immersive installations that engage the audience in a dialogue about the fluidity of identity, re-imagined reality, and the interconnectedness of the world.
Chen’s recent solo exhibition at Roswell Museum, “In the Woods”, draws upon the artist’s concerns and anxiety about the (im)possibility of the future during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the dark woods as a metaphor to mimic the current chaotic present-day society, exploring both utopia and dystopia and examining issues such as power structures, politics, race, and gender.
About MAC
MCLA Arts & Culture (MAC) is MCLA’s newly expanded arts programming arm. MAC serves as the nexus for internal and external partnerships to create engaging and equity-focused projects that encourage public arts participation, as well as the investigation of arts-based pedagogy that can reshape institutional practices. MAC (formerly known as BCRC, the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center) functions as a hub that supports interdisciplinary approaches to education, social justice, and academic research across MCLA’s campus. MAC supports the expansion of MCLA programming to include: faculty opportunities for interdisciplinary curriculum development; interdisciplinary faculty and student social justice research; arts and culture symposia and workshops; internships for underrepresented student communities; and the development of an open-access archive that includes documented community arts projects and support tools that other college campuses and communities can use and apply to fit their needs.
About MCLA
At MCLA, we’re here for all — and focused on each — of our students. Classes are taught
by educators who care deeply about teaching, and about seeing their students thrive
on every level of their lives. In nearly every way possible, the experience at MCLA
is designed to elevate our students as individuals, leaders, and communicators, fully
empowered to make their impressions on the world. In addition to our 128-year commitment
to public education, we have fortified our commitment to equitable academic excellence.
For 10 of the last 12 years, MCLA has been named a Top Ten College by U.S. News and
World Report. MCLA also appears on the organization’s list of top National Public
Liberal Arts Colleges. Since the list was created, MCLA has risen to #33 as a Top
Performer on Social Mobility and ranks first among allMassachusetts liberal arts schools,
which measures how well schools graduate students who receive Federal Pell Grants.
Learn more at www.mcla.edu.
