Dispatches from Exile
A virtual exhibition of College of Law artwork created in partnership with the University
of Wyoming Art Museum organized by Ryan Sedgeley
October 9 - December 23, 2020
Sway Virtual Gallery
In March 2020, in-person activities suddenly froze at the University of Wyoming campus.
COVID-19 had quickly spread around the world, arresting in-person activities everywhere
it touched. For many, this meant isolation from loved ones, community, and the daily
rhythm of life. This new reality created a sort of exile, disrupting the campus community.
In June 2020, a third-year law student approached the Art Museum with an exhibition
proposal. They had been greatly affected by the separation from the tight-knit College
of Law, and wanted to reach across the digital void to reconnect with their classmates
and faculty through art. Over the course of the summer, students, faculty, and staff
created art as a means of working through the political and social realities of 2020,
and are sharing these works here.
This exhibition takes the viewer through a full range of emotions, from fear in confronting
mortality, to finding joy, and ultimately hope. Viewing these works, it becomes abundantly
clear how fortunate many of them have been to experience this unprecedented form of
exile in a state like Wyoming. With its incredible bounty of public lands, the contributors
to this exhibition have overwhelmingly expressed through photographs and other mediums,
that there is no place to exile like the great outdoors.
