One Family’s Story traces the journey of Arek and Moses Zakarian from the turn of the 20th century during the Ottoman Empire through genocide, survival, migration, and reemergence in the United States. Visitors will engage with the family’s personal photos, memoirs, musical instruments, artifacts, and artwork which serve as a backdrop to the broader history of the Armenian Genocide. One Family's Story is a collaboration between the William Paterson University Galleries, The Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the David and Lorraine Cheng Library. It is made possible by the Zakarian grandchildren, led by Susan Arpajian Jolley and Allan Arpajian.
Before, After traces generations of Armenian resiliency through the common threads of loss and survival. The exhibition examines connections passed down through blood, migration, and history, from genocide to diaspora to belonging. Artists John Avakian, Anush Babajanyan, Silvina Der-Meguerditchian, Vahagn Ghukasyan, Jackie Kazarian, Diana Markosian, Talin Megherian, Marsha Nouritza Odabashian, Ara Oshagan and Levon Parian, Jessica Sperandio, Scout Tufankjian, and Mary Zakarian integrate artifact with abstraction, witness accounts with recreation, old materials reused, and new molds made. The Armenian experience—both past and present, before and after—is showcased through a range of mediums and practices, reflecting the repeating patterns of grief, healing, and reflection.
On view in Court Gallery, this exhibition features work by faculty who teach animation, drawing, digital art, graphic design, textile design, painting, photography, and sculpture. The works in the exhibition reveal the faculty’s unique artistic practices as they innovate across diverse media. Exhibiting artists include Seth Bechtold, Miriam Bisceglia, Cristina De Gennaro, Andrea Geller, Ashley Gerst, Marsha Goldberg, Diane LaFranca, Leslie Nobler, Michael Rees, Anna Carina Sinocchi, and Papa Gora Tall.
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