(re)present | Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center, UVA

Who are UVA students today? While it was plausible to represent THE student with a single image for much of the history of UVA, giving voice to myriad student experiences has always been at the heart of what the Women’s Center does. Through this arts and writing competition, the center called on the UVA community to (re)present – and celebrate – who we are and how we work and play at UVA today.

Students, in particular, lived up to what UVA has long expected of them and seized this opportunity, like so many others, with gusto. This exhibit brings work that originated in lecture halls, studios, and archives together with personal mementos and musings, enriching our sense of what means to live and learn in an historic place at a time of reckoning. Works exhibited here shed light into quiet corners of our community where small joys, subtle vulnerabilities, and hard truths tend to hide, allowing the resilience and creativity of the University community, especially the student body, to shine through.

As this exhibit includes works addressing mature themes, viewers are encouraged to approach and share these works with care for themselves and each other. If you or someone you know would be interested in any of the helpful resources that UVA provides to promote mental wellness and connection, this page of the Women’s Center website is a good place to start.