American artist and educator Corita Kent (1918-1986) used art as a tool for communicating messages of faith, activism, and social responsibility. A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Corita taught in the Art Department at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles from 1947 through 1968. There, she developed a signature style of printmaking that combined the bold and graphic visual strategies of Pop Art with calls for social justice and understanding. Corita sought "revelation in the everyday," and in her vibrant images sampled text from street signs, poetry, philosophy, advertising slogans, scripture, and song lyrics. This group of provocative prints from the 1960s, a period when Corita's work became increasingly political, poses broad philosophical questions about the most pressing issues of the day—civil rights, racism, poverty, war, and injustice. However, the work is infused with joy and hope for the future.
This exhibition was organized in response to Marquette University's 2016-17 Forum: Freedom Dreams Now, a year-long series of inclusive conversations that look with new eyes at the challenges that inequality presents at the national level and within Milwaukee.
Support for this exhibition and accompanying programs is provided by the Rev. John P. Raynor, S.J. Endowment Fund and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.
