UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Visual artist Tiara Zhané work “An Adjustment,” is part of a Penn State Center for the Performing Arts-commissioned works exhibition titled “C/O Commonwealth,” on display at the HUB-Robeson Galleries Arts Alley through July 25.
“An Adjustment,” is part of an exhibition, “C/O Commonwealth,” at the HUB-Robeson Galleries Arts Alley through July 25.
As a child in New York City, Tiara Zhané realized she possessed artistic talent — “I knew I had it,” she said — but when she asked to attend a high school for the visual arts, she said her educators were dismissive.
“My teachers kind of mocked me in middle school because I didn’t have a sketch book or a portfolio. I just had these pieces of paper in a manila envelope,” she said in a recent interview with the center. “I wasn’t really encouraged to pursue art just because of where I grew up in the south Bronx. You had to have the portfolios and the supplies, and I didn’t really have access to that.”
However, Zhané, who enrolled at Penn State in 2012 in pursuit of a degree in human development and family studies, transcended this lack of support to become an artist on her own.
“C/O Commonwealth” — including sculptures, wall drawings, murals and installations — was conceived in reaction to the five pillars of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.
The Center for the Performing Arts commissioned the Zhané work, which includes four paintings of personas the artist imagines living in the late 21st century. The figures appear against a stylized background of Earth’s continents and oceans. The acrylic-and-spackle paintings on wood, with attached paintings on cardboard, deal with the issues of immigration, climate change, mental health and racial injustice.
“Our engagement staff discovered that the wonderful women of the HUB-Robeson Galleries (Lindsey Landfried, curator, and Sarah Kipp, exhibition coordinator), with whom we have collaborated on a number of projects, were seeking proposals for an artist collaboration for their summer exhibition. The themes of the exhibition really resonated with us and our work,” said Amy Dupain Vashaw, the center’s audience and program development director.
“For the application, there were two options: either you’d already identified an artist with whom you’d like to work or the HUB Galleries staff would match the applicant with an artist. We fell into the latter category and were so excited to be paired with Tiara,” Vashaw said. “After a few initial planning meetings to ensure both the center’s vision and Tiara’s ideas were in synch, we collaborated in earnest on the ideas you now see come to life in Art Alley.”
According to Zhané, her creation ponders what might happen if humans don’t make adjustments to their ways of living.
Vashaw said, “The themes for each of the personas tied into upcoming center presentations, themes such as climate change, inclusivity for folks who live with disabilities, elderly people who may be subject to feelings of isolation and racism. Many of the presentations we select have social justice focused ideas at their heart, and this exhibition was a way to extend those ideas through the lens of a visual artist’s eyes.”
After two years at Penn State Hazleton, where she competed on the volleyball team, Zhané studied at University Park. But in 2016 she returned to New York City without having completed her degree. In 2019, she came back to State College determined to earn a diploma — she said she’s about one semester’s worth of courses shy of a bachelor’s degree — and to pursue her art.