Turman Gallery

OP/POP

Mar 2- 27, 2026

The exhibition, OP/POP, drawn  from the rich holdings of Indiana State University’s Permanent Art Collection, showcases work by iconic Op and Pop artists.  Op Art (or Optical Art) and Pop Art flourished in the US and Europe in the 1960s and 1970s largely as a reaction to the dominance of Abstract Expressionism after World War II. Unlike Abstract Expressionist painters, Op and Pop artists employed an impersonal approach to art production that distanced itself from the emotional dimension of the creative act and questioned the uniqueness of the art object. An emphasis on seriality and repetition over singularity was also a key concern of both movements.

However, while Op Art used geometric forms and vibrant or black-and-white color juxtapositions to create optical illusions of movement and depth, Pop Art borrowed recognizable imagery from popular culture, such as advertising, newspapers, television, films and comic books. 

By presenting these two artistic movements in dialogue, the exhibition aims to deepen the audience’s understanding of each while highlighting the enduring influence of the pioneers of Op and Pop Art.

THE UNIVERSE IN YOU

Jan 20- Feb 13, 2026

The exhibition, ‘The Universe in You,’ examines humanity’s long lineage of cosmological and metaphysical thought. Since at least the earliest Mesopotamian astronomers (ca. 3000 BCE), our universe was envisioned as two luminaries—the Sun and Moon—and five “wanderers” (planets) moving within a sphere of fixed stars. Across cultures, this model endured for millennia: the universe was our solar system and we were its reflection. 

Modern astronomy shattered this contained vision. Starting with the discovery of Uranus in 1781 and continuing past the realization in 1923 that Andromeda was another galaxy laying far beyond the Milky Way, our sense of cosmic scale was expanded and our understanding of existence transformed. Yet the insight of those earliest skywatchers endures: somehow, we are a reflection of that greater wholeness.

Michael Carter’s exhibition proposes that the cosmos is not only an external expanse but remains an intimate dimension of human existence. Each artwork extends consciousness itself, pointing the way to an understanding of the self as an expression of the universe. ‘The Universe in You’ invites contemplation on the idea that we are not merely observers of the cosmos but living embodiments of it.

ANONYMOUS WOMEN: DOMESTIC DEMISE

Nov 10- Dec 12, 2025

Chicago-based photographer Patty Carroll has been creating conceptually rich imagery since the 1970s, delving into the layered themes of femininity, identity, and domestic life. In her compelling exhibition Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise, Carroll pulls back the curtain on the theatrical, often absurd world of the “housewife”—a figure both iconic and invisible. While the traditional mold of this role has shifted in the modern era, its legacy remains tightly woven into the fabric of contemporary culture.

Each of Carroll’s meticulously staged, life-size scenes unfolds in hyper-stylized domestic settings such as kitchens, living rooms, and powder rooms. Each is staged with a lone mannequin as its focal point, ensnared in moments of chaos, collapse, or surrender. The lines between woman and wallpaper dissolve as saturated, monochromatic color schemes engulf the figure, blurring her into the background. This fusion of subject and setting becomes a powerful metaphor for the suffocating weight of domestic expectations and the quiet erasure of identity within the home.

Carroll’s clever sense of humor and flair for the surreal turn the mundane into the absurd, using visual satire to soften the deeper truths. Her work invites us to laugh, cringe, and ultimately reflect on how the ideal of the “housewife” continues to evolve and persist in unexpected ways. Through bold visuals and biting wit, Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise offers both a critique and a deeply empathetic look at the lives lived behind closed doors.

'BAT'

Sept 27- Oct 17, 2025

'Bat' is a multidisciplinary group exhibition presented in conjunction with the 20th anniversary of the Bat Festival, hosted by The Center for Bat Research and Conservation through the Department of Biology at Indiana State University. The exhibition also features selected works from the Indiana State University Permanent Art Collection.

Showcasing the work of internationally recognized artist Shawn E. Russell and multimedia artist Barry R. Jones, Professor of Art in the Department of Art + Design at Austin Peay State University, Bat explores the complex duality of bats as creatures both venerated and feared. This thematic inquiry is echoed in Enrique Chagoya’s intimate intaglio print, 'Mucho hay que chupar' (2012), which further reflects on the symbolic weight borne by these nocturnal animals—particularly those of vampiric species.

Russell contributes a series of meticulously rendered graphite and ink drawings that invite close, contemplative engagement with bats as misunderstood yet vital species. In contrast, Jones employs manipulated video projections—visually arresting sequences of bats in motion—that envelop viewers in a dynamic, immersive environment. This sensory experience culminates in Cindie Underwood’s sculptural work 'Fruit Bats & Rain Drops' (2003), a contemplative anchor that provides a moment of stillness within the exhibition.

Together, these works form a compelling interplay of motion and stillness, science and symbolism. 'Bat' offers a multi-sensory encounter that challenges perception, honors natural beauty, and celebrates the ecological and cultural significance of bats in our shared world.

STARS

Aug 19 - Sept 12, 2025

You're invited to the STARS Exhibition, a celebration of outstanding artwork created by select Indiana State University Art and Design students. These students were recipients of the STARS (Summer Term Art Research Scholarship), awarded through the Department of Art and Design in partnership with the Center for Student Research and Creativity.

The STARS scholarship provided stipends that allowed each artist to dedicate the summer months to independent studio work. Free from the structure of traditional coursework, students explored diverse media and processes, gaining firsthand experience in what it means to be a professional, self-directed artist.

The journey was both exciting and challenging, demanding sustained focus, discipline, and creative energy. This experience, as in past summers, culminates in this professional exhibition as part of the CSRC’s exposium showcasing undergraduate research and creativity.

CONCENTRATE (Department Concentrate Exhibition)

Apr. 21- Aug. 1, 2025

Concentrate is an exhibition featuring art and design works from various disciplines within the Department of Art and Design. Professors have carefully selected assignments from fields such as painting, drawing, ceramics, graphic design, and sculpture to showcase the diversity of student outcomes. Each unique visual interpretation reflects the students' personal creative aptitude and their mastery of materials through technique and skill. This exhibition encourages viewers to explore the breadth of possibilities that can emerge from a single prompt while also highlighting the diverse learning opportunities available within the Department of Art and Design.

MFA Exhibition: All Things That Are- Chloe Simma-Martin

Mar. 3- Apr. 4, 2025

All Things That Are, Chloe Simma-Martin’s Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, consists entirely of photogravure prints that invite viewers to question the nature of perception. Through the subtlety of the medium, the works illuminate what often goes overlooked, creating a dialogue that challenges perspective and engages synergy. By focusing on simple yet profound elements like shape and tone, the prints emphasize the contrasts of life and encourage a deeper connection with the surrounding world. The exhibition asks viewers to pause, observe, and reflect on the quiet moments that define existence.

BORN THIS WAY

Jan. 20- Feb. 14, 2025

Inspired by the message behind Lady Gaga's song Born This Way, this exhibition showcases mixed-media and multimedia artworks by six nationally acclaimed graphic artists: Terry Blas, Scott Forbes, Garrett Ley, Tesha Merkel, David Talaski, and Tessa Wijaya. Many of these artists' works have been featured in publications such as DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and BOOM! Studios, and they have collaborated with celebrities like Ariana Grande.

DIGITAL ART EXHIBITION - ‘it for bit’

Nov. 11- Dec. 13, 2024

The exhibition it from bit is inspired by physicist John Wheeler’s concept that reality is fundamentally shaped by digital information rather than matter. Digital art students from the Department of Art and Design expand on this notion through artworks that blend traditional mediums with digital technologies. Each piece challenges perceptions of identity, experience, and existence, reflecting the ever-evolving relationship between the digital world and reality. Digital information acts as an active force that shapes contemporary media culture, influenced by the binary code structures of devices that alter and distort our perceptions and engagement with the world. As Wheeler proposed, information is not just something we engage with; it is an integral part of who we are. The diverse student expressions on this theme encourages reflection on the interplay between human experience and digital phenomena in shaping the essence of modern existence.

ART ACTION- Pussy Riot: Nadya Tolokonnikova

Sept. 30- Oct. 25, 2024

Tolokonnikova considers herself a conceptual performance artist and her multimedia works are limitless in artistic expression and approaches ranging from music to the visual arts. The chosen mode of artistic communication for each action is dictated by what she believes will garner the greatest impact to voice her message. In one of many revolts against Putin, her Russian action Putin has Pissed Himself (January 20, 2012, Lobnoye Mesto on Red Square, Moscow), she and other Pussy Riot members performed in brightly colored clothes and balaclavas shouting the song "Putin Has Pissed Himself" accompanied by electric guitars. In What if Women Ruled the World (WIP), (23 May - 1 September 2024, Serpentine North, London, UK), a collaboration with feminist artist Judy Chicago, her ‘...queen and mother...,’ (Instagram: @pussyriot, July 7, 2024) they showcase interactive digital quilts.

ART ACTION, is a vehicle for human rights, presenting works from various locations and time periods. Tolokonnikova continues to insert herself into perilous situations to fight for her beliefs. Her actions have instigated more than 70 arrests by Russian police, a sentence of two years in a Russian jail and a Siberian penal colony (2012-14), and being added to Russia’s Most Wanted list (2023). Tolokonnikova’s courageous and vehement actions remind us that art has the power to raise awareness and provoke change.

STARS Exhibition

Aug. 19- Sep. 13, 2024

Artists:
Aubrey Arms, Abigail Canull-Beauchamp, Sally DeBaun, Joey O’Sullivan, Monica Sanchez, Sophia Sanders, Mahal Wright

About:
You are invited to the STARS exhibition, which celebrates the artwork of a select group of Indiana State University Art and Design students who were awarded scholarships by the Center for Student Research and Creativity. The STARS scholarship is gifted through the Department of Art and Design (Summer Term Art Research Scholarship) and provided stipends to each student to produce artwork during the summer months. Working with diverse media and processes, these students experienced what it means to be a professional independent artist. Without the guidelines of course assignments, it was both exciting and challenging for them to maintain energy and focus throughout the project. This experience, as in past summers, culminates in this professional exhibition as part of the CSRC’s fall exposium showcasing undergraduate research and creativity.

FORM & FUNCTION- Ceramics Exhibition

Apr. 22- May. 10, 2024
 

Artists:
Aubrey Arms, Abigail Canull-Beauchamp,Mallory Gossett, Kadi Hampson, Stella Harrison, Denny Hindle,Grace Hughes, Hannah Jackson, Robin Lane, Nina Mims, Max Murphy, Zoe Newbold, Madison Rumler, Sophia Sanders, Bee Snow, Alysen VanLeer, Courtney Williams, Mahal Wright, Iris Zhao
 

About:
The Exhibition - Form and Function presents an array of ceramic works that foster the exploration of this medium while providing a space to share diverse ideas and unique perspectives. Each work was created by students currently enrolled in ceramic classes held in the Department of Art and Design. The selected pieces range from more traditional vessels to sculptural forms. Form and Function invites the viewer to consider traditional and innovative practices used in ceramics that students draw upon to showcase both their creative and technical skills.

DECIBEL - Kevin J. Naylor’s MFA Exhibition

Mar. 4- Apr. 5, 2024

About:
Kevin J. Naylor’s Master of Fine Arts thesis exhibition, Decibel, weaves together sound and space to form a dynamic ecosystem. Integrating infrasound and wall assemblages, they create a fluid, ever-changing experience. As viewers move through the gallery, they encounter shifts in perception and emotion, reflecting the constant flux of our sensory environment. This interplay of elements challenges the boundaries of art, inviting a deep, introspective interaction with the unseen forces of sound.

AMBER ROBLES-GORDON EXHIBITION: SUCCESSIONS: Traversing U.S. Colonialism

Jan. 22- Feb. 16, 2024

About:
Amber Robles-Gordon’s Successions: Traversing U.S. Colonialism is a conceptual juxtaposition that celebrates abstraction as an art form while leveraging it as a tool to interrogate past and current United States’ hegemonic domestic and foreign policies within its federal district (Washington, D.C.) and its other five inhabited territories. By highlighting nuances related to the U.S. governance Robles-Gordon creates a pathway through discursive criticism around issues impacting marginalized communities oppressed by its rule and questions who has access to resources, citizenship, and the right to sovereignty.

The first edition of "Successions: Traversing US Colonialism" was held at American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center in fall 2021. The exhibition was curated by Larry Ossei-Mensah.

BFA/BA - SENIOR EXHIBITION

Nov. 27 - Dec. 16, 2023

About:
This exhibition showcases the artwork of the graduating BFA and BA students from the Department of Art and Design. Each work displayed encapsulates the knowledge, skills, and techniques that these students have gained throughout their years at Indiana State University. This culmination point and celebration together signify their ‘rite of passage’ into their next chosen path.

VIEW/ MIRROR

Oct 2— 27, 2023

About:
Rarely are we gifted a moment of pause, to take stock and reflect on our past in relation to our present. In this invitational exhibition View/Mirror, co-curated by Tanmaya Bingham and Ian Carey, a select group of Indiana State University MFA alumni exhibit their current artwork adjacent to their former artwork which is on loan from the ISU Permanent Art Collection. Both the alumni and the viewer can engage in this reflective and subjective comparison to highlight potential artistic development and simultaneously honor the individuality of each piece.

STARS

Thursday, Sep 7, 4-6pm

About:
‘STARS’ is an exhibition that celebrates the artwork of a select group of ISU’s Art and Design Students who were awarded scholarships by Center for Student Research and Creativity. The ‘STARS’ scholarship is through Department of Art and Design (Summer Term Art Research Scholarship) and provided stipends to each student to produce art during the summer months. Working with diverse media and processes, these students gained a real sense of what it means to be independent artists. Without the guidelines of course assignments, it was both exciting and challenging for them to maintain energy and focus throughout the project. This experience, as in past summers, culminates in this professional exhibition as part of the CSRC’s fall Exposium showcasing undergraduate research and creativity.

Seth Green | Architectural Wood-Fired Vessels

April 3- May 5, 2023

About:
Seth Green’s exhibition Architectural Wood-Fired Vessels is a selection of ceramic artworks that range from cups to vases and transcend the purpose of everyday objects.

Each ceramic vessel embodies the architectural vocabulary found in Baroque and Romanesque style cathedrals and palaces and the rich symbolism inherent to Islamic mosques. This is accomplished by creating multiple wheel-thrown forms and assembling them on the wheel at the leather hard state to complete the architectural forms. The metal like surfaces of his reduction cooled wood-fired vessels is achieved through the use of high-iron bearing clay slips to create earth hues of umber, ochre, and sienna patinated by metallic bronze, gold, and silver.
Although the inspiration for these objects’ usage stems from their function in religious rituals and ceremonies of the Persian and Ottoman Empires, they are not “Religious Art,” rather they are “Sacred Art” and non-denominational.
It is through the simple act of intentionally holding, pouring, and drinking from vessels that we are elevated and transcended beyond our current reality.

Public Blackness I

Jan. 17- Mar. 17, 2023

About:
Public Blackness is an exhibition that spans all three of the Art Galleries at Indiana State University. The aim is to create greater awareness of the on-going and often unresolved local and national racial issues. The show is designed to provide a safe platform where ISU students and the broader community can learn, engage, and be inspired to take positive action to help heal and transform outdated and unconscious biases.

Public Blackness demonstrates how the Black body in a racially divided society gradually disappears from our understanding of what it means to be a human. What transpires when the Black body is captured in our gaze—a gaze that has been trained to only view it as a problem everywhere it exists? What happens when the myths from our past—which were frequently used to justify its destruction—become ingrained in our imagination of its existence today? One should leave the exhibition knowing a bit more about what makes the Black body vulnerable to the violence it still endures today.

Subject to Change: Digital Art Student’s Exhibition

Nov. 14- Dec. 9, 2022

About:
Subject to Change is an exhibition consisting of works by a select group of Digital Art Students to express their interpretations of the ephemeral and ever-changing world of technology, especially as it applies to the visual arts. Each of these unique multimedia digital artworks asks the viewer to engage with images and ideas that are relevant as they pass by today but tomorrow might be obsolete or just gone.

World of Frontier

Oct. 3- 28, 2022
 

About:
Micheal G. Moore’s digitally rendered comic book, World of Frontier (Issue #1), transports us into a 32-page alternate universe of a sequential adventure with color-blocked illustrations and speech bubbles. Although this work began as a personal exploration for Moore, the universal narratives and relatable characters engage our imagination, asking us to form our own interpretation of this uncharted world. This exhibition immerses us in its pages while simultaneously creating a didactic platform for Moore to share his creative process from concept to completion. Moore is from Terre Haute, Indiana, and is graduating in December with a Master of Fine Arts, Graphic Design.

STARS

Sept. 1-23, 2022

About:
You are invited to the STARS exhibition, which celebrates the artwork of a select group of five ISU’s Art and Design Students who were awarded scholarships by Center for Student Research and Creativity.  The STARS scholarship is through Department of Art and Design (Summer Term Art Research Scholarship) and provided stipends to each student to produce art during the summer months. Working with diverse media and processes, these students gained a real sense of what it means to be independent artists. Without the guidelines of course assignments, it was both exciting and challenging for them to maintain energy and focus throughout the project. This experience, as in past summers, culminates in this professional exhibition as part of the CSRC’s fall Exposium showcasing undergraduate research and creativity.