Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery
The Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery is located in the Gladys C. Fort Art Building on the Coker University Campus
Visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/ceceliacokerbellgallery
Gallery Hours: Weekdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
While Classes are In Session
Mission Statement
Coker University uses the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery to broaden our student’s exposure to artists with regional, national, and international reputations. Interest in our exhibition program extends beyond the university community, and we encourage public participation in all exhibitions and artists’ presentations. To date, the gallery has exhibited work by artists from France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, South Africa, and all regions within the United States.
“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.”
Pablo Picasso
Meet the Artists
Coker University is excited to host five different artists’ exhibitions for the 2025-2026 school year.
Adrian Rhodes: Everything Stays
August 25 – September 19
Installation artist Adrian Rhodes creates spaces of shared empathy with optically bold and delicately crafted work that references familial relationships, generational trauma, and the matrilineal using a varied lexicon of symbolic visual iconography. Rhodes employs a wide-ranging multidisciplinary studio practice that explores printmaking, painting, fibers, and sculpture pieces which combine to fill gallery spaces from floor to ceiling with images of birds, midwifery scissors, paper airplanes, and pomegranates.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Reception: September 19, 12 p.m.
Free
Jim Arendt: Eighty-Sixed
September 22 – October 17
Fiber artist and sculptor Jim Arendt extends his reverence for American laborers with a group of works commemorating their resilience and unsung service to society. Arendt draws from his working-class upbringing and crafts thoughtful portrait works at a human scale, carefully sewing together their likenesses using strips of worn denim workwear to construct individual narratives. The artist also repurposes decommissioned highway construction signs that display short glowing messages referencing the struggles of contemporary workers and economics.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Reception: October 17, 12 p.m.
Free
Yvette Cummings: Ecstasis And Absence
October 20 – November 14
Yvette Cummings’ Ecstasis And Absence is a collection of paintings and furniture-based sculpture pieces that convey the complexity of bodily self-perception as it is formed through lived experiences, emotional and physical biases, violations, and regulations. Cummings’ work acknowledges layers of trauma, transformation, and emotion in a format of images that evoke familiar scenes, uncomfortable encounters, and psychological reckoning. Cummings is a master painter and storyteller who uses the seduction of her skill to expose the hidden wounds and pain that others carry internally.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m
Reception: November 14, 12 p.m.
Free
Anne Mondro: Possibilities of Hope
February 16 – March 20
Anne Mondro’s artistic vision was born from a fascination with objects derived from countless hours exploring her grandmother’s attic as a child, which she describes as a magical place full of knick-knacks, clothing, and accessories from another time. Deeply invested in craftsmanship, Mondro takes great care stitching intimate woven wire sculptures to commemorate individual objects as she seeks to process their stories, honor them, and connect to others. Her work also responds to personal health, as she seeks to process the love, sadness, and grief experienced during a time of illness and disease.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m
Reception: March 20, 12 p.m.
Free
Delaney MeSun Shin: Above, Below, And In Between
March 23 – April 24
Delaney MeSun Shin is an interdisciplinary artist whose work delves into the complex layers of her personal and cultural identity. Shin’s immersive installations and 2D and 3D compositions offer a compelling exploration of identity, weaving together themes of heritage, cultural experiences, and her interest in microbiology. Drawing from both the natural sciences and her Korean-Caucasian background, her artistic voice carries a deep self-reflection. Shin’s mastery of drawing and painting allows her to use paper as a versatile medium, pushing its boundaries to create evocative and immersive spaces for viewers to engage.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Reception: April 24, 12 p.m.
Free
