The middle distance
Curated by Frances Cathryn
Featuring works by Kelly Kristin Jones
January 22 – April 13, 2025
The middle ground or middle distance in the composition of an image is neither background nor foreground, neither very close nor very far away. It is a depth within the frame at which past and future are implied. While the middle ground is the most common framing and considered a “respectful” distance (especially in documentary photography) it is also often criticized as causing a scene to appear flat or static.
The works currently installed in the Barbara Walters Gallery explore the idea of a social “middle ground,” a place where one can gain status while avoiding accountability, what historian Laura Wexler might call the “averted eye.” White women in particular have historically maintained a posture at middle distance: Always just close enough to exert influence but never putting themselves or their reputations in harm’s way. In Nice white ladies, installed in the center of the gallery, Jones has collected hundreds of vernacular images that showcase the lengths white women will go to access power at a remove.
White women have also used this middle ground to preserve a singular, politically salient retelling of American history. In 1908, Eva Smith Cochran, matriarch of a local carpet-milling family, used her wealth to save Philipse Manor, the second-oldest building in Westchester County and former city hall. In a special collaboration installed in the gallery, Jones and students at Sarah Lawrence use the Philipse Manor Hall archive to consider how visual culture participates in political discourse. By turning such archival work into energeia—an activist approach to interrogating the archive—Jones aims to make dominant historical knowledge more participatory. This exhibition is funded with a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
Image: Kelly Kristin Jones, "Nice white ladies", 2019-ongoing, 604 found photographs, dimensions variable.
#barbarawaltersgallery @francescathryn @kellykristinjones
After calling the Heimbold Visual Arts Center home for 15 years, The Barbara Walters Gallery opened in its new permanent home—The Barbara Walters Campus Center—in August 2019. Located on the second floor, the space is rich with natural light and will house exhibits throughout the academic year. The mission of the Barbara Walters Gallery is to promote the arts as well as dialogue around the issues currently engaging our community, including not just our faculty, staff, and students, but also our alums and neighbors. The Barbara Walters Gallery will host three shows each year, and we welcome proposals from all corners of the Sarah Lawrence Community. Please address any questions or ideas to Lyde Sizer, Associate Dean of the College, at deanofcollege@sarahlawrence.edu.
Upcoming Exhibit
The middle distance:Curated by Frances Cathryn, featuring works by Kelly Kristin Jones
The Barbara Walters Gallery is delighted to present: The middle distance.Curated by Frances Cathryn. Featuring works by Kelly Kristin Jones.
The exhibit is Open to the Public daily January 22 – April 13, 2025
Barbara Walters Gallery hours: Weekdays 10-4 and Weekends 1-4
Instagram barbarawaltersgallery
Yesterday we welcomed artist Shanequa Benitez at Sarah Lawrence to hold a workshop as part of the SLICE symposium. Afterwards, the SLICE cohort visited the gallery and took a tour of Benitez’s show.
Our current exhibition, But It’s Ours: The Redline Between Poverty and Wealth by Shanequa Benitez is on until April 11th. Make sure to check it out before it closes!
T-minus one day until the opening of But It’s Ours: The Red Line Between Poverty and Wealth by Shanequa Benitez. Take a peek at these pictures from our installation day! See you Tuesday 3/05 from 5-7pm for an opening and reception. #sarahlawrence
The Barbara Walters Gallery is delighted to announce the upcoming Shanequa Benitez show BUT ITS OURS: THE RED LINE BETWEEN POVERTY AND WEALTH. Join us on Tuesday March 5th from 5-7 for the exhibition opening and reception.
The Barbara Walters Gallery is delighted to present Song of Songs: The Bible's Great Love Poems in Calligraphy, by artist and calligrapher,
Margaret Shepherd '69.
The exhibit is Open to the Public daily from March 29 – June 12, 2022 at the gallery’s location in the Barbara Walters Campus Center at Sarah Lawrence College. Visit our gallery page at Sarah Lawrence College for more information!
Margaret Shepherd '69 and Ron Afzal, Religion Faculty, artists talk and opening reception photographs by Evan Suzuki.
Margaret Shepherd ‘69 - Song of Songs: The Bible’s Great Love Poems in Calligraphy - On view March 29 - June 12, 2022. Open to the Public daily from 10am-4pm: Visit Sarah Lawrence for more information
the BARBARA WALTERS GALLERY presents TEARY FIRS: AN FYS EXHIBITION
Student exhibitors: Danny Begg, Charlotte Brann-Singer, Cindy Cao, Lia Cusumano, Simon Darrow, Harper Dawson-Glass, Sofie Dowling, Simone Endress, Eva Engebretson, Lily Finkelstein, Amaya Gallay, Tae Yeon Han, Olivia Harrison, Messina Hernandez-Simpson, Elinor Horn, Ruby Jagel, Sophie Knuettel, Dariya Kozhasbay, Violet Kreifels, Maren Larkin, Milan Margot, Lily Marks, Riziki Mbugua, Cate Mittweg, Samantha Rojas, and Arielle Spivack.
A group exhibition by the students of Angela Ferraiolo's and John O'Connor's First Year Studies Project course in the Visual and Studio Arts. This exhibition is open to the public from December 8, 2021–February 27, 2022 at the gallery's location on the upper level of the Barbara Walters Campus Center at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York.
The Barbara Walters Gallery is open daily from 10am-4pm.
Please see Sarah Lawrence College's Campus Visitor Policy to plan your visit.
Settle down with Amy Gartrell, Paul Latislaw '16, Francis Louvis ‘15, Ian Harkey ’12, and Josh Spector
September 30, 2021-November 14, 2021
Group exhibit on view!
"What Do You Want From Me?" Curation and writing by the students in Sarah Hamill’s Class of ’23, Histories and Theories of Photography. This exhibition is open to the Sarah Lawrence community from April 1, 2021–September 12, 2021 at the gallery’s location at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY.
FYS Art History at the Barbara Walters Gallery: What Do You Want From Me?
Photography exhibition
April 1-September 12, 2021