Isaac Couch: Occupied
February 24 - March 14
Occupied features a collection of work shirts and tarps that textile artist and designer Isaac Couch calls Ghosts. These Ghosts refer to embodiments of energies from the past that manifest themselves in the present. As Couch says, “At the current political and economic moment, we are reminded yet again that history repeats itself if we do not learn from our mistakes. I find it important to conjure these Ghosts again as a reminder to myself and the community around me that we must stay woke despite how easy it may be to fall asleep.”
This special exhibition was organized and curated by Berea College student Soreyda Begley and supported by the Doris Ulmann Galleries, the Carter G. Woodson Center, and the Student Government Association. This exhibition will be on view from February 24 through March 14 in the Doroth Tredennick Student Gallery.
Isaac Couch graduated from the University of Kentucky with a degree in Merchandising Apparel and Textiles and earned his Master’s of Design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Couch has received numerous fellowships, including the Luminarts Fashion Fellowship (2021), the Fashion Council Fellowship (2021), and the Arts Club of Chicago Fellowship (2023-2024). He has exhibited his work widely, most recently at the Weinberg Newton Gallery, the Comfort Station, and the Co-Prosperity Sphere in Chicago and, closer to home, at the Lexington Art League. Couch currently teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is an Artist in Resident with the Cliff Dwellers and the Chicago Artist Coalition.
Soreyda Begley is an arts and culture activist who blends her background as a garment worker, fashion designer, and performance artist with community organizing and advocacy. She is double majoring in Political Science and African and African American Studies. Begley is active on campus, serving in multiple leadership positions as the Student Government Association Junior Senator, the Art Committee’s Co-Chair, and the Black Students Union Bridging the Gap Chair.