Skillman Library offers much more than a mere study space for students. While people are typically drawn to the building to study, socialize, or work in a quiet area away from bustling campus life, the staff transforms the space each semester to fit a new aesthetic through the use of their exhibition space. Volunteers make up the Exhibits Working Group, which discusses and carries out plans for exhibits that make the library a more inspirational, educational, and dynamic environment for patrons.
Currently on display is the “Claiming Freedom” exhibit, featuring over twenty eclectic selections from the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art. The collection was curated by Claudia Volpe, former Easton resident and the foundation’s director. Each piece was chosen to highlight the motif of freedom, both “freedom from oppression and the freedom to thrive in this nation.” The art spans several decades, depicting the linear history from slavery times into the contemporary, and displays how personal narratives of freedom were defined through art across time.