LEWISTON, Idaho – Two exhibits, one focused on metal, fiber and color and the other on Martin Luther King Jr., will open Friday at the Lewis-Clark State College Center for Arts & History, located at 415 Main St. in Lewiston.
Material Transgressions is the exhibit by Rebecca Merkley-Omeje, an adjunct instructor and Esvelt Gallery director at Columbia Basin Community College in Pasco, Wash. Merkley-Omeje is a multimedia artist who focuses on metal, fiber and color. She uses fabricated and recycled materials to create abstract and semi-abstract compositions. Her juxtapositions of materials exemplify softness with hardness, creation with decay, and scientific knowledge with spiritual wholeness.
Merkley-Omeje graduated with a master’s in Fine Art in sculpting and painting from Idaho State University in 2018.
The second exhibit, called City of Hope: Resurrection City & The 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, is by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, along with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The 18-poster exhibit honors King’s vision for economic justice and opportunity for every U.S. citizen. The exhibit includes a series of recently discovered photographs and an array of protest signs and political buttons collected during the Poor People’s Campaign. The exhibit shows the historical significance of the campaign and how it still relates to today.
There is free admission to both exhibits, but donations are accepted. The gallery hours are noon-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.
The exhibits, which run through March 12, are sponsored by “Friends of the Center” and made possible by grants from US Bank and the Idaho Commission on the Arts. For more information on the LC State Center for Arts & History visit www.lcsc.edu/cah.