WCU’s Knauer Gallery Presents John Day: Confronting Wilderness October 20 – December 12
Exhibition Explores Human Encounters with Nature Through Assemblage, Photography, and Text
Artist Reception on Thursday, November 13, from 4–6 p.m.
From October 20 through December 12, 2025, WCU’s Dept. of Art + Design will present
John
Day: Confronting Wilderness, a solo exhibition featuring mixed-media works that explore humanity’s complex relationship
with the natural world. The exhibition is FREE and open to the public in Knauer Gallery. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. The Knauer Gallery is located
in the Swope Music Building and Performing Arts Center, 817 S. High Street, West Chester,
PA. For more information contact the Department of Art + Design at 610.436.2872 or
email artinfo@wcupa.edu.
Day’s work draws inspiration from his travels through forest preserves across the northeastern United States. His art reflects an intimate engagement with wilderness and examines how we experience and interpret nature in an era of environmental change. The exhibition includes assemblages, constructions, and drawings that combine digital photographs of forest details, branches, paint, fabric, and written text describing the artist’s encounters with the natural world.
Several pieces address themes of deforestation and the climate crisis. In one such work, Suspension, Day integrates digital imagery of forests, industrial landscapes, and portraits of people to evoke a sense of balance—and imbalance—between nature and human existence.
Day has exhibited in galleries, nature preserves, and museums throughout the New York City area, Hartford, Connecticut, and the Mid-Atlantic region. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cornell University.
The artist will attend an opening reception on Thursday, November 13, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Knauer Gallery.