‘FL3TCH3R’ Exhibit on display at ETSU’s Reece Museum

Exhibit has been part of campus life for more than a decade

The 11th annual “FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Social and Politically Engaged Art” is on display at East Tennessee State University’s Reece Museum through Dec. 8. On Thursday, Nov. 2, at 5 p.m., Adam DelMarcelle, this year’s juror, will present a public talk at the museum. An awards ceremony will begin at 6 p.m., followed by a reception. 

“We are always excited to see what each year’s exhibit will offer and this year features such a variety of artists from various cultural backgrounds,” said Spenser Brenner, the Reece Museum’s exhibition coordinator. “This year features folks from all across the U.S. and eight other countries, making it one of the most diverse ‘FL3TCH3R’ exhibits yet.”  

The exhibition includes one of the largest breadth of artists from around the world. Featuring 68 artists, the exhibition includes work from 20 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. Works from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, Iran, Jordan, Taiwan, United Kingdom and Ukraine were also selected for the exhibition. Representative media includes fiber, metals, painting, photography, digital, sculpture, printmaking, video, graphic design, ceramics and mixed media.  

Co-sponsored by the Mary B. Martin School of the Arts at ETSU, the exhibition explores current trends, and part of its mission is to serve as an avenue for societal transformation through exposure to social and political points of view.  

“The ‘FL3TCH3R’ is always such a powerful exhibition, and this year is no different,” said Reece Museum Director Rebecca Proffitt. “We are proud to continue to host this exhibition and provide a platform for these important issues and causes to be showcased.” 

ETSU art professor emeritus M. Wayne Dyer, his wife, attorney Barbara H. Dyer, and their daughter, graphic designer Carrie A. Dyer, established the exhibit in 2013 in memory of their son and brother, Fletcher H. Dyer. Fletcher, 22, was an ETSU Bachelor of Fine Arts senior concentrating in graphic design when he passed away in a motorcycle accident on November 5, 2009.  

“This year's exhibition will highlight and honor visual works depicting ‘Protection of Human Rights’” said co-directors Barb, Wayne, and Carrie Dyer. 

“Fletcher had a love of humankind and wanted a better future. Each day we witness the escalating tensions of violence and human tragedies that echo the life force and resonate the exhibit’s basis of creation. This year, we ask, what if? What if we could create peace and loving equality, end the assaults on human rights of ALL, what if there was a solution to our path forward as a species that could end climate change? FL3TCH3R artists are engaging in these dialogues and challenge the status quo. They remind us of our dearest Fletcher,” said co-directors Barb, Wayne, and Carrie Dyer. 

The juror for this year’s exhibition is DelMarcelle, an educator, artist, activist, and assistant professor of Graphic Design at Wilson College in Pennsylvania. DelMarcelle reviewed approximately 280 entries and selected 84 works from 68 artists for the 2023 “FL3TCH3R Exhibit.”  

Due to the loss of his brother, Joey, to a Fentanyl overdose, DelMarcelle’s journey began through his use of revolutionary art action and resistance, including poster bombing communities with screen-printed materials.  

When police destroyed this work, he turned to large-scale building projections, casting 80-foot-tall images onto the sides of buildings in his hometown. In 2018, he projected one such image onto the headquarters of Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin., museum officials said.  

Work as an educator and artist has sent him traveling widely, activating communities through outreach, activism and educating anyone who will listen to the power art possesses to disrupt, resist and document  human existence. DelMarcelle’s work has been written about and exhibited and is included in several collections across the United States, including the Library of Congress, the Cushing Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, Syracuse University, Letterform Archive and many more. He earned a BFA from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design and an MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Art. 

The exhibit continues to give back to politically and socially engaged artists with over $2,000 in awards, in addition to the Fletcher H. Dyer Scholarship that is given to an ETSU Art & Design student every year. 

For more information about Fletcher Dyer, visit fletcherdyer.com/about.html. For more information about the exhibit, visit FL3TCH3Rexhibit.com.  

The Reece Museum is located on the campus of East Tennessee State University and is free and open to the public Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Follow the Reece Museum on social media for more content and digital programming. 

For more information on Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, visit www.etsu.edu/martin. For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at 423-439-8346. 

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East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.