Students Curate Berman Exhibition Exploring Opioid Crisis

Through his art, DelMarcelle responds to losing his brother to a heroin overdose and discovering countless more families torn apart by addiction.

The exhibition is co-curated by five students: Tiffini Eckenrod ’20, Abigail Krasutsky ’21, Greta Lagerberg ’20, Alfredo Negron Paradis ’21 and Max Stout ’20, and their instructor, Gloria Mast.

DelMarcelle uses design activism to address larger societal issues and has devoted his art to bringing awareness to the opioid epidemic that is gripping local and national communities.

“I started making art as a way to deal with my grief,” DelMarcelle says. “It began as something very personal, but I’m looking to spread this message nationally by traveling to schools around the country to teach art activism and to speak to students about using their artistry for the betterment of their community. There’s power in art and design. It has the ability to raise awareness, to question and to take action.”

The exhibition brings together numerous mediums, including video and slide projections, audio recordings, and street art style prints, that inspire personal reflection and advocate the need for public dialog and action.

DelMarcelle’s design activism has included posting screen prints around his hometown and projecting images onto the sides of buildings, leading to local and national attention.

In addition to the exhibition, DelMarcelle and the Ursinus students will host several public programs throughout the spring, including an opening reception on Feb. 7 at 4:30 P.M.

Abby Krasutsky ’21, an art major and museum studies minor, says the museum studies course gives students a great platform to work with artists and exercise their own creativity. 

“This exhibition has really opened my eyes to the opioid crisis and we’ve curated it in a way that doesn’t sugarcoat it,” she says. “I’m hoping that everyone who experiences the exhibition comes away with a better understanding of the impact it has.” 

The Berman Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed Mondays. Admission is free. Visit ursinus.edu/berman. —By Ed Moorhouse