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 2026-2027 school year.
Lisa Co: Seeing Is Not Enough
August 18 – September 11, 2026
Lisa Co grew up in coastal Georgia, inspired by the marshes and haunted landscapes of the South. Now based in Gainesville, Florida, she is an Assistant Professor of Art at Florida Gateway College. Seeing Is Not Enough explores identity, distance, and longing through interdisciplinary practices including printmaking, bookmaking, installation, and text. Drawing from personal experience as a biracial person, Co uses repetition, transformation, and poetic language to examine displacement, challenge fixed identities, and create immersive works centered on empathy and becoming.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Reception: September 1, 1 p.m.
Free
Zero Space Collective: New Visions
September 14 – October 9, 2026
Zero Space Collective is a contemporary artist network supporting underrepresented artists through inclusive exhibitions, digital platforms, and community advocacy. Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in response to limited access to resources, the collective continues to promote accessibility. New Visions brings together artists across diverse media to explore unexpected visual and conceptual connections. The exhibition celebrates collaboration, community, and shared dialogue across geographic and artistic boundaries.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Reception: October 9, 1 p.m.
Free
Shannon Rae Lindsey: CONSTRUCT::CONNECT
February 1 – February 26, 2027
Shannon Rae Lindsey is an interdisciplinary artist working across installation, sculpture, and drawing to explore the tension between order and disorder through transformed construction materials. Lindsey holds an MFA from the University of South Carolina and currently serves as Associate Lecturer and Director of the UCF Art Gallery at the University of Central Florida. CONSTRUCT::CONNECT reimagines everyday construction materials through site-specific and mixed-media practices of cutting, layering, and transformation.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m
Reception: February 26, 1 p.m.
Free
James Keul: Lighting a Candle on a Bright Afternoon
March 1 – April 2, 2027
James Keul is a Durham, NC based artist with a BFA in painting from SCAD and additional training from the Art Students League of New York. His work has been exhibited internationally and is included in collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Tokyo. Keul’s work explores environmental issues, especially fossil fuel dependence and sea-level rise, through imagery that contrasts industry and nature. Inspired by coastal experiences, his recent work draws from the Solarpunk movement’s vision of a sustainable future.
Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m
Closing Reception: April 2, 1 p.m.
Free
