Work from decades of ECU art alumni converge in RE/collection exhibition
- RE/collection features 230 artworks by 154 ECU alumni artists across four ECU and Greenville venues from Aug. 24 through Sept. 26.
- The exhibition showcases decades of artistic work of alumni from graduating classes spanning from 1963 to 2025.
- Alumni activities and public receptions offer opportunities for former students, faculty and the community to reconnect and reminisce.
When Willie Marlowe ’65 was working toward her East Carolina University studio art degree, Dr. Wellington B. Gray was her color and design professor, and purchased one of Marlowe’s watercolors for his personal collection.
Starting next week, three of Marlowe’s visual poems — part of her series “Diamond Ziggurat with Color Reflection # 1-6” and inspired by “Scrabble” and crossword puzzles — will be on exhibit in the School of Art and Design’s Wellington B. Gray Gallery as part of the RE/collection Alumni Exhibition.
A digital image of “American Beauty,” an etching by Olivia Gravenese ’25 set for display in the RE/collection Alumni Exhibition.
“(I’m) very happy for this full circle,” said Marlowe, who completed a double major in painting and art education.
The School of Art and Design (SOAD) holds an alumni exhibition about every five years, and RE/collection is the fifth. The last exhibition was held in 2021 with fewer extra activities, pushed back from fall 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This year’s exhibition will be held Aug. 24-Sept. 26 across four venues:
- Gray Gallery at ECU’s Jenkins Fine Arts Center, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday
- Janice Hardison Faulkner Gallery at ECU’s Joyner Library, hours vary
- Proctor-Yongue House, ECU College of Fine Arts and Communication offices, open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday
- Emerge Gallery and Art Center, 404 Evans St. in Greenville, hours vary
RE/collection’s opening receptions will be Friday, Sept. 4 from 5-8 p.m. at all four venues as part of downtown Greenville’s First Friday ArtWalk. The exhibition and receptions are free and open to the public.
The SOAD will host additional alumni activities over that weekend. Also Sept. 4, alumni can tour the Jenkins facilities, meet current faculty and reconnect with the school. On Sept. 5, alumni, families and friends can participate in an informal gathering at Pitt Street Brewing Company in downtown Greenville. The school also invited former faculty members to join the festivities.
“In my experience, alumni love to come and walk around the spaces, reminisce and see how things have changed,” said SOAD Director Kate Bukoski. “This is an opportunity for them to reconnect with the school and to showcase what they’re doing across the broad range of disciplines and professional careers.”
Marlowe came to ECU from her hometown of Whiteville, and now lives in Albany, New York, where she is a professor emerita of Russell Sage College and paints full time in her personal studio. She started her art and teaching journey with an invitation to join graduate student critiques on campus and weekend trips to New York City to visit art museums and galleries. Marlowe has spent the decades since graduation teaching in various capacities and showing paintings in more than 300 solo, juried, invitational and group shows, as well as several international artist residencies.
As she submitted work for RE/collection, Marlowe said she remembered dozens of classmates and faculty who were part of her ECU experience, including women professors who showed her that women could be part of an art faculty.
“I wish to express my gratitude to the School of Art (and Design) for the great start given to me there,” she said. “I was able to find a teaching position right after graduation, and my studio background gave me the experience to begin showing my paintings in galleries and museums. I am deeply appreciative of the ground and experience I got at ECU.”
At the more recent end of the alumni range is Olivia Gravenese ’25, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art with a printmaking emphasis, though that wasn’t her initial artistic interest.
“Funny story, actually,” Gravenese said. “I originally came to SOAD intending to major in painting and drawing; fast forward to me taking the printmaking survey class and then etching I and II as electives, and now I’m officially a printmaker. I knew nothing about printmaking up to that point.”
Gravenese said the printmaking processes force her to slow down and plan. Etching in particular demands patience and commitment, which she said she struggles with. She was also inspired by faculty, citing printmaking faculty Matt Egan and Heather Muise for mentoring her as a printmaker and artist.
“Surround yourself with people that will uplift you, inspire your creativity and keep you focused,” Gravenese said, sharing wisdom for upcoming students. “Don’t procrastinate; this is the biggest thing I give to future students, as it was something I struggled with the most. Participate in all events through SOAD and ECU.”
Gravenese, originally from Camden and now living in Greenville, uses some of her struggles to inspire her work, which reflects the tension between time, anxiety and identity.
She will have two pieces in different venues for RE/collection. One, “American Beauty,” is a fan favorite etching from her senior exhibition, exploring the chaos of getting ready for the day and overanalyzing how she looks to others, especially as a plus-size woman. “Daybed,” an etching not yet seen publicly, explores how something as simple as folding laundry can become an ordeal.
Gravenese works a day job and spends her free time continuing her work in the Jenkins studios. She plans to attend the exhibition festivities.
“I look forward to catching up with all of my classmates, as well as faculty and staff of SOAD,” she said.
Fast facts:
- 230 art pieces across four venues
- 154 alumni artists, including several current faculty members
- 1963-2025 range of graduation years
- 9 different undergraduate and graduate degrees earned (some no longer offered at ECU and with many more emphasis areas)