InLiquid Gallery

Nursery Rhymes for Questionable Times (NR4QT) is a whimsical summer exhibition showcasing stunning artwork from five local artists and transforms the InLiquid Gallery into a magical place full of brightly colored murals, pillow forts, and cootie catchers. NR4QT uses playful childhood aesthetics to mask the darker sides of being a grown-up. The exhibition runs June 17 through July 23, 2022, in the InLiquid Gallery in the Crane Arts Building in South Kensington.

When you’re young it’s often fun to play at make believe
A beetle, a dino, maybe even a camel—
There are no limits to what you conceive!

Yet as you grow up, you are instructed “No more!”
You’ve had enough fun,
Your games are done for!
Suck it up, buy a house,
Pay the bills, find a spouse.
Even if inside, you feel like a louse.

Then slowly you come to believe,
Now that you are fully-grown,
That all the advice you received,

Was maybe a tad over-blown.

You might start to feel like you’re stuck in the muck
And think to yourself what the… fudge?
You might even possibly start to surmise,
That when you were younger,
You were a tad bit more wise.

So please go ahead and play at make believe
Enjoy again, those inner worlds you conceive!
Imagination can be the escape,
From the rules, bad lovers,
And workplaces’ red tape.

So with this we’d like to invite you
To Nursery Rhymes
For Questionable Times

Matthew Courtney was born in Washington D.C. and raised in Springfield, PA. He received his bachelors from the Philadelphia College of Art, and his MFA from Kent State University. Since 1995 he has continually served as an adjunct instructor at many of Philadelphia’s most prestigious art programs, including Tyler School of Art, University of Pennsylvania, and The University of the Arts. Courtney’s work has been exhibited locally, as well as nationally and internationally.

E. Sherman Hayman was born in Newport News, VA. She studied literature at Hollins University and art at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Hayman’s long running studio practice has focused mainly on social issues such as gun violence, politics, and death customs. Hayman has exhibited widely locally and nationally.

Tommy Mavra is an artist based in Philadelphia, PA. His work explores narratives relating to our relationship with the natural world through painting, drawing, and sculpture. He is interested in the contrast of being taught to have a reverence for nature while living in urban and suburban environments. Each work questions agreed upon notions of morality and explores the magic and the mischief of life.

Phoebe Murer is an artist, and writer born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. She received her Certificate of Fine Arts at Pennsylvania Academy of Arts in Painting, a bachelor’s in Psychology/ Pre-Art Therapy at Arcadia University, and a Masters in English with an emphasis in creative writing at Arcadia University. Murer’s professional career has focused on working with people, like herself, who are on the spectrum.

Stephanie Rogers was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in Cherry Hill, N.J. She studied painting at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. She served as Assistant Director of a large New Jersey Art Center and has organized many juried art exhibitions in the Philadelphia area. Stephanie’s work is the product of her effort to share the healing powers of joy, playfulness and love.

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