The exhibits opened October 12 and will continue through November 17, 2023. 

“We are very pleased to offer these two international traveling printmaking exhibitions for everyone to enjoy in person,” said Dr. Velma  Jean Yamashita,  Associate Professor of Art and Isla Center for the Arts Coordinator. “Exhibitions such as these allow us to fulfill part of our mission to provide our students and the community with an international art experience.”    

One traveling exhibit is titled “Thinking of Place III.” The other is titled “Female Correspondence.” 

Dr. Irena Keckes, Associate Professor of Art at UOG, participated in both projects, bringing these extensive international exhibitions to Isla Center for the Arts.

“It is my honor to share these remarkable intercontinental printmaking projects with communities in Guam,” Dr. Keckes said.   

Thinking of Place III 

Thinking of Place III is an international printmaking project organized by Laurel McKenzie (AU), Prue MacDougall (NZ), Antonietta Covino-Beehre (AU), and James Pasakos (AU). This project including 86 artists, was exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Argentina, Ireland, United Kingdom, and now in Isla Center for the Arts, University of Guam. Show will next travel to Denmark, Germany, and several locations in USA. 

The exhibit invited artists to invoke a legend, myth, story or an aspect of ancestral heritage in relation to their personal identification with geography and environment. To learn more, click the link: https://www.thinkingofplace.com 

Prints created by two UOG alumni, Joleen Unas, Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and minor in Fine Arts, 2019; and Daena Perez, Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts, 2019, are included in the exhibit.  

Unas, a junior computer operator at UOG, submitted her work during the pandemic. 

“I wanted to spread some hope and dreamed that if people saw my work - good things would come to them, and from one person to another, I wanted this positivity to spread throughout the world,” Unas said. “Now, three years later, the piece has returned to Guam, and the world is finally getting back on its feet after the pandemic.”  

With her part-Japanese heritage, Unas said her printed art “Amabie” was inspired by a Japanese legend that made her hope the pandemic would pass. 

Dr. Keckes invited five artists to be part of her group in the show, Perspectives, including two UOG alumni, Deana Perez and Joleen Unas, along with Keckes, K. Zimna, P. Skowron, and M. Djordjevic.

View Artwork from Thinking of Place III 

Female Correspondence

The second exhibit, Female Correspondence, involves 18 artists from Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Guam, and other parts of the United States. 

The Female Correspondence Project is an idea of Mateja Rusak and Tihana Karlović and includes only female artists.  The project started in 2019 with artists: Tihana Karlović (Croatia), Mateja Rusak (Croatia), Ana Salopek (Croatia), Kristina Pongrac (Croatia), Dora Bakek (Croatia), Raluca Iancu (USA), Anna Trojanowska (Poland), and Raquel Amat Parra (Ireland). New artists joined in 2020, including: Irena Kečkeš (Guam), Iva Gobić (Croatia), Gloria Sellan (Croatia), Maja Zemunik (Croatia), Carmen Bačura Potočić (Croatia), Maja S. Franković (Croatia), Monika Jurić (Switzerland), Svetlana Jakimovska Rodić (Slovenia). The project is continuing in 2021, with new participating artists: Jasna Šikanja (Croatia), Karen Kunc (USA) and Yoshimi Teh Soo Mei (Japan).

Participating artists had one correspondence partner with whom they exchanged prints throughout one year, according to the project’s website. 

If you’re attending:

When: The exhibit continues through November 17, 2023. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Where: Isla Center for the Arts, No. 15 Dean’s Circle, University of Guam Campus.  The exhibition will be on display from October 12 to November 17, 2023.

Contact: For more information, please call 671-735-2965 or email islacenter@gmail.com.