Displays & Exhibitions: Past Exhibitions in the Library

Come celebrate the past and present of performing arts at Evergreen by visiting our spring exhibit. In the present, you will find materials create and curated by The Evergreen Theatre Club, while in the past, you will find great examples of performing arts programs over Evergreen's storied history.

The James F. Holly Rare Books Room staff have curated a new display for Spring 2025 on the topic of activism and social movements throughout history.

From our open proposal process, the library hosted a diverse range of exhibits in winter quarter, including: LibART, curated by Jonathan Batchelor; The Spruce Production Division in WW1, curated by Steve Coffman; Winter Blues, Recent Evergreen Cyanotypes, curated by Devon Damonte; Cast Glass Oysters, curated by Harry Daniels, and; Medicinal Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest, curated by Mindy Sue Bell.

To honor Faculty Librarian Stokley Towles upon his retirement, the Rare Books Room staff and Stokley have co-curated an exhibition of materials highlighting ways in which we take note... and notice.

Playful and profound, the Puget Sound Book Artists 13th Annual Members’ Exhibition on the theme of Time Travel will be exhibited at The Evergreen State College Library, in Olympia, from September 29–December 13, 2024 with an open case event on Sunday, October 20, 2024, 1:00pm-3:00pm. On display will be a total of fifty-five artist books from forty-two different artists representing all parts of the Puget Sound and the western United States.

The James F. Holly Rare Books Room is excited to showcase work by former students and faculty. This display includes artist books, poetry collections, and broadsides chosen and arranged by student staff. Come take a look at work by Joe Feddersen, Alex McCarty, Zhang Er, Kirby Stanton, Nikki McClure, Bill Ransom, and Leonard Schwartz. Admire student work printed by the Penny Press, E. Lloyd Young, Elise Caddy, Grace Johnson, Selena Kearney, and Rachel Bliven.

The selected titles span eight decades and a variety of formats, including photography books, artists books, poetry chapbooks, and zines. The earliest title is “The Book of Repulsive Women: 8 Rhythms and 5 Drawings” by American artist, illustrator, journalist, and writer Djuna Barnes. Evergreen owns an unsanctioned 1948 reprint of this scandalous poetry chapbook that was originally published in 1915 and sold for fifteen cents.

Solastalgia is a premonition of longing for the present moment from the perspective of an anticipated future. It is the feeling of homesickness before leaving home. What are we experiencing now that we will miss in the future? That is the sensation of solastalgia.

Our current Rare Books Room exhibit explores the natural world through the eyes of book artists. We were inspired by the long-awaited return of the Procession of the Species to choose titles that shared the Procession’s categories of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Selections address themes of social and environmental justice, nature’s ability to promote growth and decay, and humanity’s effect on our shared environment (and vice versa).

This art exhibition takes a look into the intersections of Indigenous identity and punk subculture, and how the two have formed a symbiotic relationship that resists colonialism and fuel survivance.

The Portrait Project is a photographic body of work that includes limited edition hand-bound artist books that blend portrait photography and personal narratives.

The Learning and Teaching Commons celebrates notable faculty accomplishments through Faculty Notes. Each year we collect notable publications, presentations, appearances, recognitions, awards, exhibits, performances, research, or other accomplishments to celebrate the incredibly talented faculty at Evergreen.