SHANA HARPER

Untitled, 2017

Letterpress print

Museum Purchase, Selected by Olivia Olson-Roberts, Susan Prier, Mollie Schottstaedt, and Jenny Varner, students in the Mills College Fall 2021 Museum Studies Workshop, 2021.3.2

Shana Harper is a contemporary Bay Area artist who works at the art organization NIAD (Nurturing Independence through Artistic Development) using an array of media ranging from textiles to sculpture. Harper is particularly interested in printmaking, and this bold piece attests that “being an artist is the best feeling in the world!” This is a phrase coined by Harper herself, and in her accompanying work it becomes more than just a phrase on paper. The varied fonts and alignment demonstrate to the viewer that art is about joy for Harper. She has commented that she uses art to express her feelings, and it is clear in this piece that she is reminding the viewer that art can have huge emotional benefits.

This piece was recently acquired by the Mills College Art Museum in a series of student directed selections from NIAD, which promotes the work of local artists with disabilities. As a disabled artist, Harper is doing more than having her own voice heard, she is amplifying the need for greater representation in all collections.

—Jenny Varner