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Current Exhibition

A Soldier's View

September 2–December 11, 2026

Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC 29303

Wofford College Visitor Hours

    From epic narratives to political cartoons, war has long shaped artistic expression while leaving an enduring mark on personal and national identity. Drawing on 23 works from The Johnson Collection, this exhibition explores conflict through the perspective of the individual soldier, examining the sacrifices of body, memory, and self that accompany military service.

    About the Exhibition

    SPECIAL EVENT FOR A SOLIDER'S VIEW

    Join TJC at Wofford College on November 4th for an evening program featuring veteran Alexis Hunter, the founder of Healistry.

    Things We Carry: A Veteran's Reflection on A Soldier's View will take place at 5:30 PM in the Richardson Family Art Museum Upper Level, and the experience combines personal reflections on the exhibition from a post-9/11 veteran perspective, personal military artifacts, an authentic deployment journal excerpt, and a participatory quilt-inspired community canvas. This event is free and open to the public. This event contains references to suicide and sexual assault. Discretion advised.

    Among the oldest civilized human pursuits—art, music, writing, and language—lies the brutal but no less organized phenomenon: war. Though essentially destructive, war also plays a large part in inspiring all manner of creative pursuits, from Homer’s The Odyssey to grand portraits and political cartoons.

    Ironically, war has acted not just as a divisive force but also as a means to unify disparate people under a common cause. With a shared purpose at hand, soldiers are thrust into a new community where they can offer up their time, their creativity, and their emotional and physical wellbeing to the goals of the nation. This may challenge their beliefs, subsume them, or erase entirely what came before. In the aftermath, a grand historical painting may secure a place for the battle in the annals of history while the lives, sacrifices, and identities of the soldiers who fought it quietly disappear from memory. 

    This exhibition adopts a soldier’s perspective to look at works from The Johnson Collection, investigating how war demands not only physical sacrifice but also the surrender and transformation of one’s personhood. Furthermore, this show considers how art can not only shape and preserve the individual but also create a new national identity.

    Exhibition Artwork