News
The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery of SUNY Westchester Peekskill is presenting Arc of the Moral and Viral Universe Notebooks
Arc of the Viral and Moral Universe Notebook Project, 2022 New York, November 29, 2022.
The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery of SUNY Westchester Peekskill is presenting Arc of the Moral and Viral Universe Notebooks on view from February 1 through April 26, 2023. The opening reception will be on Thursday, February 16, 2023 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, the public is welcome.
I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways. I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice. –Theodore Parker, 1853
“Deeply concerned about the trajectory of justice in our country in 2018, I found Theodore Parker’s (1853) words recurring in my mind. Does it indeed bend towards justice?” — Carla Rae Johnson (2022)
Johnson put out a call for participants in a notebook project to address the “Arc of the Moral Universe.” That yielded more than 60 volumes filled with drawings, sketches, writing, lyrics, photos, montages, cut-outs, fold-outs, and abstractions documenting one year in each of their lives.
In 2020, Johnson confronted the reality of a world-wide viral pandemic and the “Arc of the Viral Universe” was the result. She invited participants from another notebook project, plus 100 more creative individuals from all walks of life. This resulted in over 30 bound volumes documenting daily lives, unease about the future, concerns for the planet, outrage at the effects of systemic racism, apprehensions about threats to democracy, and glimmerings of hope in the midst of the most challenging of times. They confirmed her belief that “creative people are among the ones to register these events and respond in hopeful, compassionate, and positive ways.”
Carla Rae Johnson’s art includes drawing, sculpture, conceptual, performance, and installation art. Her work is connected to ideas and often addresses issues of social, political, and cultural import. She is a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Drawing, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in Sculpture, and the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant. Her work has been exhibited nationally and in New York City.
Ms. Johnson has an MFA and has been an arts educator for over 38 years. She recently retired from her position as a Professor of Art at SUNY Westchester Valhalla where she taught from 2003 to 2016. She is now delighted to devote her energies to art, full-time.
For more information about Carla Rae Johnson, please visit www.carlaraejohnson.org. For more information on the Arc of the Moral Universe: A Notebook Project @thefirstnotebookproject and Arc of the Viral Universe @anotebookproject. You may also contact peekskill@sunywcc.edu or 914-606-7300 for opening reception information and viewing hours. For more information about The Center for the Digital Arts Gallery, please visit www.sunywcc.edu/peekskill
