Spring Exhibitions Open at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey on February 13
From February 13 to August 23, 2026, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (VACNJ) will showcase three exhibitions that examine various intersections of identity and representation. The exhibitions will feature artists whose work engages with themes such as material culture, Indigenous identity, queerness, and cityscapes, while questioning how narratives and visibility are controlled and reclaimed. Special attention is paid to the various processes of photography as artists demonstrate contemporary approaches to the wet plate, photogravure, and more. The opening reception for all three exhibitions will be held on Friday, February 13, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.
In partnership with Art Bridges, the Art Center is proud to host In Conversation: Will Wilson in the Main Gallery. In Conversation presents the works of Diné (Navajo) photographer Will Wilson (b. 1969) and Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868–1952). Wilson’s contemporary exploration of self-representation through the science of photography and digital media is in response to the continuing impact of Edward Curtis’s The North American Indian (1907–1930). Wilson explores relationships with science, identity, agency, and representation in photography while also considering the lasting legacy of historical photographs on the representation of Native peoples in North America.
Generous support for this project provided by Art Bridges.
The investigation of artists’ use of portraiture continues in the Mitzi and Warren Eisenberg Gallery with Gabriel Garcia Roman’s solo exhibition Present and Growing. Featured in this solo exhibition are not only his best-known portrait series, “Queer Icons,” but also a range of his works that capture his experiences as a queer Mexican-born artist from a working-class family. Roman expands the portrait beyond the photograph in his crafting of objects and textiles. Present and Growing looks to the nopal, known in English as the Prickly Pear Cactus, as a motif of resilience and beauty in unfavorable conditions.
In the Art Center’s Marité and Joe Robinson Strolling Gallery I, photographer Chrystofer Davis captures the portrait of a city in his exhibition With Passing Years. In a selection of photos of his hometown of Newark, NJ, Davis shows the personality of the Four Corners District. It is the people and architecture that give the city its personality. For this exhibition, Davis’s work is in conversation with archival photos courtesy of the Newark Public Library, to show the many lives the city has lived. With images captured as early as the 1850s, this exhibition is a testimony to Davis’s present-day role as an active archivist, continuing the legacy of those before him in showing the wonders of Newark.
On Saturday, June 6, 2026, VACNJ will celebrate our spring exhibitions with a free Community Day from 10 AM to 2 PM. The event will feature artist-led art walks around Summit, a live podcast recording, drop-in portraiture and queer icon workshops, and hands-on pinhole photography.
About the Artists
Will Wilson’s art projects center around the continuation and transformation of customary Indigenous cultural practice. He is a Diné photographer and trans-customary artist who spent his formative years living on the Navajo Nation. Wilson studied photography, sculpture, and art history at the University of New Mexico (MFA, Photography, 2002) and Oberlin College (BA, Studio Art and Art History, 1993). In 2007, Wilson won the Native American Fine Art Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum, in 2010 the Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Sculpture, in 2016 the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant for Photography, and in 202,0 Wilson was the Doran Artist in Residence at the Yale University Art Gallery. Wilson has held visiting professorships at the Institute of American Indian Arts (1999–2000), Oberlin College (2000–2001), and the University of Arizona (2006–2008). In 2017, Wilson received the NM Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. His work is exhibited and collected internationally. Wilson is program Head of Photography at Santa Fe Community College.
Gabriel Garcia Roman is an artist and craftsman born in Zacatecas, Mexico, and raised in Chicago. He received his B.A. from The City College of New York where he studied Studio Art. His art has been acquired by the International Center of Photography and the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art. It has been shown at the Museum of Latin American Art (Long Beach, CA), Galería de la Raza (San Francisco, CA), Cathedral of St. John the Divine (New York, NY), the Center for Photography at Woodstock (Woodstock, NY), and numerous other institutions and galleries. In 2019 he was commissioned by the Leslie-Lohman Museum to bring his Queer Icons series into the streets for the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots where 100 Queer Icons flags were marched down the World Pride route. In 2020, Garcia Roman was one of 10 artists in residence at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council for Workspace, their flagship residency program. He lives and works out of New York City.
Chrystofer Davis is a Newark, NJ-based award-winning fine art photographer, professor, muralist, and filmmaker, whose work is influenced by street/portrait photography and contemporary culture. During Chrystofer’s career, he has worked, collaborated, and collaborated with world-renowned companies and celebrities, in addition to hosting seminars and lectures. These feats include The New York Times, Disney, The Obama Foundation, ABC News, New York Magazine, Leica Camera, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Newark Museum of Art, to name a few. Additionally, Davis has hosted numerous seminars and lectures on his work.In 2023, Davis received the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship Award in the photography category. His works are currently archived in prominent institutions such as The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The Newark Public Library, The Thomas J. Watson Library at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tufts University, and The Bronx Museum.
About Art Bridges Foundation
Art Bridges Foundation is the vision of philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton. Founded in 2017, Art Bridges creates and supports projects that share works of American art with communities across the United States and its territories. Art Bridges partners with a growing network of over 300 museums—impacting 25 million people nationwide—to provide financial and strategic support for exhibitions, collection loans, and programs designed to educate, inspire, and deepen engagement with local communities. The Art Bridges Collection represents an expanding vision of American art from the 19th century to present day and encompasses multiple media and voices. For more information, visit artbridgesfoundation.org.
About the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey
For more than 90 years, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey has been exclusively dedicated to viewing, making, and learning about contemporary art. Recognized as a leading non-profit arts organization, the Art Center’s renowned Studio School, acclaimed exhibitions, and educational outreach initiatives serve thousands of youths, families, seniors, and people with special needs annually.
The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is located at 68 Elm Street in Summit, NJ. Gallery hours: Monday–Thursday, 10 AM–8 PM; Friday & Saturday, 10 AM–5 PM; and Sunday, 11 AM–4 PM. Please call 908.273.9121 to confirm holiday hours. Visit artcenternj.org for more information.
SUPPORT
Major support for the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey is provided by the Wilf Family Foundations; New Jersey State Council on the Arts; and the Art Center community of supporters.