2025 Events

The University Art Gallery at Sonoma State University is proud to present Reclaim, Repurpose, Reimagine (RRR), a bold and timely exhibition on view from September 4 through October 18, 2025. Curated by SSU faculty members Eileen Parent and Stefan Kiesbye, the exhibition features works by five dynamic Bay Area artists— Mia Feuer, Bryan Keith Thomas, Arleene Correa Valencia, Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang of One Beach Plastic,—as well as student artists Ellie Bertling, Kendelle Lannert, Ace Noriega, Charlotte Ruiz, and Joseph Taylor, mentored by Asherah Weiss through the Recology ArtStart Student Hub (TRASH) summer residency program. ​Spanning sculpture, fiber arts, photography, painting, and mixed media, these artists transform discarded materials into works that are not only visually striking but conceptually layered—engaging with urgent and often challenging topics. From the global impact of overconsumption and climate change to deeply personal reflections on immigration, ancestry, spirituality, and cultural survival, each piece invites viewers to confront the realities of the Anthropocene and consider how waste and material culture are tied to systems of power, displacement, and resilience. ​Collectively, the artists in RRR offer powerful reflections on how individuals and communities resist, adapt, and bear witness in the face of environmental and social crisis. Through the act of reclaiming discarded materials, their work surfaces narratives of vulnerability and survival, illuminating how histories—both inherited and erased—can be reassembled and reimagined through creative practice. ​At its core, RRR asks us to reflect on the intertwined relationship between identity, environment, and consumption. The acts of reclaiming, repurposing, and reimagining become methods of healing, resistance, and remembering. These works speak to the lives we live, the heirlooms we pass down, the burdens we carry, and the objects we leave behind. In this context, trash becomes testimony—of environmental injustice, cultural erasure, and the enduring hope for regeneration. We invite you to consider waste not as an endpoint, but as a beginning—a material rich with possibility. Each artwork challenges us to see beauty, agency, and meaning in what is often overlooked. Through this collective reimagining, the artists offer not only critique but vision—a future shaped not by what we discard, but by what we choose to preserve, transform, and elevate. In-kind support is generously provided by Recology. Opening Reception: Thursday, September 4th from 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm Artist Talk: Thursday, September 25th from 4:00 pm- 5:00 pm​