The Weatherspoon is thrilled to announce the acquisition of an important series of drawings by artist and UNC Greensboro alum Sherrill Roland ’09, MFA ’16. Just before his final year at the University, Roland was wrongfully convicted of a crime and sent to prison. Though he was eventually exonerated, his experience lives on in his series, titled Artforus: November 2013–Summer 2014 Issues. Made from the art magazines that Roland received while in prison, the works reflect on his devastating months behind bars. After saving bits from each of the magazine covers, he ground the pages into a pulp from which he made new sheets of paper that he then covered in texts and images drawn from the mail he received in jail, the Bible passages he read in the prison chapel, and pages from his journals. The compositions offer a record of vulnerability and resilience—both Roland’s and his community’s. As he points out, prison changes the lives of both those incarcerated and those who love them.
As part of last fall’s Art on Paper exhibition, these artworks were carefully studied on multiple visits by students in the Residential College Global Engagement and Intercultural Learning Seminar and ultimately served as inspiration for the course’s final project. The Weatherspoon is honored that this work will remain at UNC Greensboro as part of the museum’s collection and a resource for future students and community members.
Images: Sherrill Roland, Artforus: February 2014 Issue, 2018. ArtForum International Magazine (February 2014), toilet paper, primer paint, Kool-Aid, Sharpie marker, ink, and steel, 28 x 24 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro. Purchase with funds from the Weatherspoon Art Museum Acquisition Endowment for the Dillard Collection, 2021.8.4. © Sherrill Roland
Sherrill Roland, Artforus: April 2014 Issue, 2018. ArtForum International Magazine (April 2014), toilet paper, legal paper pad, primer paint, Kool-Aid, Sharpie marker, ink, and steel, 26 x 24 in. Weatherspoon Art Museum, UNC Greensboro. Purchase with funds from the Weatherspoon Art Museum Acquisition Endowment for the Dillard Collection, 2021.8.6. © Sherrill Roland
Students enrolled in the Residential College Global Engagement and Intercultural Learning Seminar taught by Sarah Colonna, Associate Faculty Chair, Grogan College, in front of Artforus by Sherrill Roland, August 2021.
