Mixed media works by New York artist on display at Washington & Lee through October

“Proposals,” a solo exhibition by Mary Mattingly, kicks off Washington & Lee University’s Staniar Gallery fall season.

From September 4 through October 25, the New York-based artist’s works in various media will be on display. Mattingly’s works explore issues around sustainability, climate change and consumerism. Best known for her works creating sculptural ecosystems such as “Swale,” a floating food forest that was open to the public as it traveled through New York City’s harbors, a series of photographs and sculptures will be on display in the Staniar Gallery. The photographs and sculptures are from an ongoing series for which the artist wraps up collections of personal objects into dense bundles and create comments on consumption, waste and the environment.

Mattingly will give a public artist’s talk on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall’s Concert Hall, followed by a reception. The exhibition and reception events are free and open to the public.

Her works have been exhibited at Socrates Sculpture Park, International Center of Photography, the Brooklyn Museum, Palais de Tokyo and Seoul Art Center. Mattingly, a 2023 Guggenheim Fellow and the recipient of grants from the James L. Knight Foundation, the Harpo Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts, has been profiled in documentaries and publications, including Art21 and The New York Times.

Staniar Gallery is on the second floor of Wilson Hall, in Washington and Lee University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts. When the campus is open to the public, gallery hours are Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.