About The Center

  • The Center for Art and Social Engagement

About The Center

The Center for Art and Social Engagement

Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of The Sister Chapel 

The Center for Art and Social Engagement is a new initiative of Rowan University Art Gallery at Westby Hall.

It serves as a venue for investigating social issues through arts-based methods. Anchored by a permanent display of The Sister Chapel, a historic collaborative feminist installation, the Center draws inspiration from the cooperative spirit of the women’s art movement. Programming at the Center will encourage interdisciplinary collaborations that explore diverse and timely social issues through multidisciplinary practices, broadly conceived to include a variety of mediums such as photojournalism, film and video, historical ephemera, faculty and student research presentations, info-graphic presentations, STEM/STEAM installations, and public programming.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The themes embodied in The Sister Chapel paintings provide a broad range of topics in which to explore programming. They are diverse and expansive from women’s issues to investigations of mythology, science, world religions, LGBTQ, literature, politics, and more. If you would like to submit a proposal to The Center for Art and Social Engagement, review the guidelines found in the Request for Proposals. Proposals will be accepted on an on-going basis. 

For more information about this program please contact Mary Salvante at salvante@rowan.edu.

The Sister Chapel: Now Open with Refreshed Installation

The Sister Chapel was conceived in 1974 by Ilise Greenstein, who envisioned a monumental “hall of fame” in which women’s achievements would be presented from a female perspective. Greenstein’s participation in several feminist consciousness-raising groups and all-women activist organizations prompted her to question the enduring androcentric view of history. Using a nominal pun on the Sistine Chapel, she proposed a secular, nonhierarchical alternative to the patriarchal system embodied in Michelangelo’s renowned ceiling fresco.

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