Works by Leah Limpert Walt ’18 and Jason Herr ’16 highlight new Gallery exhibitions

Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCA&D) is thrilled to announce the opening of dual exhibitions featuring the works of two alumni. Earthling, with work by Leah Limpert Walt ‘18, and A Solitary Loop, featuring work by Jason Herr ‘16, both open in the College’s Main Gallery for First Friday on November 3, 2023, from 5-8 pm.

The public is also welcome to attend a free Artist Talk by Limpert Walt that same day, at 3 pm, in the College Atrium. 

In recent years, PCA&D has offered a Fine Art Alumni Artist-in-Residence where the participating artist has an exhibition on PCA&D’s campus. Limpert Walt and Herr were both PCA&D artists-in-residence at different times. Limpert Walt completed her residency in May of 2023 while Herr was the artist-in-residence in 2020.

“Typically, artists-in-residence have their exhibitions in the summer months,” says Director of Exhibitions Alex Schaufele. “The opportunity to present the work of two artists in residence simultaneously is exciting. It connects our students more closely to our alumni and our alumni to the larger community. It also is a style of exhibition that we haven’t done recently at PCA&D — two solo exhibitions in concert.” 

Leah Limpert Walt

Limpert Walt, a Lancaster-based adjunct instructor at the College, served as the 2022-23 Fine Art Alumni Artist in Residence at PCA&D. She also has studied at University of Delaware and Moore College of Art and Design, and earned her BFA summa cum laude with awards from PCA&D. She has shown in Philadelphia, New York City, and throughout the lower Susquehanna Valley, and is co-founder of King St. Workshops. 

“In admiration of light, nature, material, and witness to dire humanity, my paintings are varied in their realism and symbolism,” Limpert Walt says. “I’m interested in interpretations of visual honesty and process; in the documentation of self in seasons of being, attentiveness to intuition, and in inquiring further.” You can view more of her work at leahlimpertwalt.com.

Jason Herr

Herr, the College’s first Fine Art Alumni Artist-in-Residence, has shown in galleries in Lancaster, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, New York City, Los Angeles, England, and France, and won Best in Show for the Thrive exhibit at the Sunshine Gallery in 2014. He has contributed illustration work for Mondo Zero press, Kus! comics, Lifted Brow magazine, and Future Islands. His ambiguous works contain subtle narratives that evoke a sense of both anxiety and absurdity. Often staging contorted characters in uncanny situations, the artist examines the isolation and loneliness of our contemporary world. 

Every character contains elements of the artist but exists in a parallel universe separate from it — “self-portraits hidden behind a mask,” in the artist’s own words. You can view more of his work on Instagram at @jas0n_herr.