The Escalette Collection exists to inspire critical thinking, foster interdisciplinary discovery, and strengthen bonds with the community. Beyond its role in curating art in public spaces, the Escalette is a learning laboratory that offers diverse opportunities for student and engagement and research, and involvement with the wider community. Its core mission is to enrich Chapman’s campus with relevant works of art that inspire a powerful cross-pollination of ideas. The fostering of diverse ways of knowing the world that is at the root of Humanities learning, is manifested in the Escalette’s curated exhibits, classroom outreach, and public programs.
Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences is the proud home of the Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art. The collection is supported by an endowment established by the late Phyllis and Ross Escalette, and is comprised mostly of contemporary and modern paintings, prints, and sculpture. Rather than being housed in a museum or gallery, The Escalette Collection functions as a "museum without walls" where artwork is displayed throughout the Chapman campus in hallways, public spaces, and study areas. The collection is free and open to the public to view.
Current Exhibitions
Creativity After Combat
February 3 - August 21, 2020
Henley Galleria, Argyros Forum, Second Floor
This exhibition honors veterans, past and present, and explores the unique ability of visual art to capture aspects of the veteran experience. Creativity After Combat brings together work by well-known World War II veteran artist John Paul Jones, and prints created from the testimonies of veterans recently returned from conflicts around the world. This dialogue between past and present illustrates the capacity of art to reflect on, document, and express diverse experience.
Image: Yvette M. Pino, In the Light You Will Find the Road, Intaglio print, 2012.
Border Click: Tijuana / San Diego
September 4, 2019 - January 15, 2020
Henley Galleria, Argyros Forum, Second Floor
"Borderclick is a digital living archive and curriculum exploring the complexities of the transfronterizx/transborder experience. From 2016–2019, groups of young people who live and study between Tijuana and San Diego have been using photography to deconstruct their daily aesthetic encounters and explore their identities on both sides of the border. This work is the combination of our conversations, documentation, research, and interviews with each other and other transborder people, as well as our dreams for the future."
Image: Ale Uzarraga, Doble Identidad, 2016.
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The Border: Selections from the Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art
November 18, 2019 - May 31, 2020
Rinker Health Sciences Study Commons
Rinker Health Sciences Campus
9401 Jeronimo Rd, Irvine, CA 92618
Explore the poetic aerial landscapes of Mexican photographer Pablo López Luz; Spanish photographer Janire Najera’s conceptual triptych depicting a shimmering wall; photography by Tom Kiefer, a former custodian for the U.S. Border Patrol; and Hong Kong-born artist Bovey Lee’s papercut illustrating the experience of child migrants.
Image: Tom Keifer, With Makeup, inkjet print, 2018.
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