SOUTH BEND — What began in summer 2022 as a way to get people back into the South Bend Museum of Art (SBMA) after the COVID-19 pandemic has become a biennial tradition in the community as the third “Around the Bend” exhibition continues through Aug. 23 at 120 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
This year, the exhibition highlights 240 local artists ages 18 and older across the South Bend region with varied artistic styles and skill levels. The exhibit’s curator, Frances Jacobus-Parker, only recently took over the showcase this year from the museum’s former artistic director, Krista Hoefle.
“One thing that was both daunting and a really fun challenge was laying out the work in the space,” Jacobus-Parker said, noting that the work is showcased in a floor-to-ceiling manner.
The exhibit has no specific theme, but as she watched the 240 works come into the museum following an open-call submission, Jacobus-Parker saw the potential for conversations to be had — which influenced how she arranged the array of works.
“There’s so many works that you don’t have statements by each artist,” she said, “so a visitor coming in has limited ways to understand how an individual work fits with what that artist is trying to do.”
With that in mind, she paid careful attention to the themes of each individual piece in relation to the broader display and wall space the Warner Gallery — the museum’s largest exhibition space — allotted, grouping the works together categorically. Jacobus-Parker said landscapes, animals and religion are recurring themes that dominate this year’s show.
At the same time, her conscientious placement of each of the works throughout the exhibition allows visitors to take in how certain works contrast with those on opposing walls.
A noteworthy, familial example of the show’s juxtaposition can be seen through brothers Mike and Fred Slaski’s artwork. Mike painted a colorful abstraction for the exhibition, while Fred submitted a black-and-white photograph. The pieces are mounted to face each other on parallel walls.
“My hope is that visitors, as they start to look, will pick up on those in their own way,” Jacobus-Parker said. “So, there’s not a specific thesis, but rather an opportunity to start to see: ‘Oh, look! This artist is doing this, and that sort of plays off of what this other artist is doing.'”
A canvas for community
Prior to starting her job at SBMA about a year ago, Jacobus-Parker taught art history at the University of Notre Dame. But, she said, she didn’t realize how many artists reside in her nearby community until she curated “Around the Bend.”
While putting the show together, she recognized a handful of artists’ names as people she would bump into at the grocery store or knew from the playground but whom she had “no idea” did art.
“To me, it was really inspiring to see how many people are not making art as a career, [but] are really committed to maintaining creative practice,” Jacobus-Parker said.
“Around the Bend” takes open-call submissions from eight counties across the South Bend region: Elkhart, LaPorte, Marshall, Porter, Starke and St. Joseph in Indiana and Berrien and Cass in Michigan.
Jacobus-Parker said there are no creative restrictions in terms of subject matter or medium, but there are size requirements listed in the submission application to ensure all artwork can be transported to and from the museum safely.
“We don’t guarantee that everybody gets in, but we try to accept as many as we can,” she said. “Somebody might not get in because they haven’t followed the size restrictions, but they’re not going to not get in because their work is not developed enough.”
In addition to size guidelines, each artist has the opportunity to submit three total works, one of which is then chosen to be displayed salon-style by museum staff.
“The idea is to capture all of the many art worlds and art communities that coexist in a community like this, because — of course — there are always many,” Jacobus-Parker said. “There’s not just one art world or art scene.”
The artwork exhibited in this year’s “Around the Bend” extends far beyond traditional canvas paintings.
Anna Johnson of Citizen Band Potawatomi has tribal Native American regalia on display that she dances in. Jacobus-Parker said Anna Johnson is interested in recovering a style of regalia that preceded contact with European settlers.
The artist came into the museum to hand-place the clothing on a wired mannequin bodus. Jacobus-Parker said she worked one-on-one with as many artists as she could to make sure their artwork was displayed in a way that the artists approved.
Another non-traditional highlight in the exhibition comes from Notre Dame studio art photography professor Hillary Irene Johnson. Suspended from the ceiling of the art gallery hangs sheer photo paper Hillary Johnson hand-made from plants adjacent to bananas. Exposing onto the translucent paper are roots of plants, creating what Jacobus-Parker called “a very delicate, tiny botanical structure.”
She said the artwork was initially higher up in the gallery to account for its fragility. However, Hillary Johnson wanted the work hung lower so that visitors could feel their body in relation to the work.
Though certainly not a standard photograph, the work still classifies as such.
“Artists like this are really pushing the of definition of the medium in new directions,” Jacobus-Parker said, referring to Hillary Johnson’s submission.
Art as an evolution
As an art historian, Jacobus-Parker said she has always been fascinated by contemporary art from the 1960s onward. She majored in English in college but has always been fascinated by how the past and present intermingle and influence each other.
“I always liked going to museums,” she said. “I always liked writing about and thinking about art, and I was especially interested in art that seemed to relate to the essential social [and] political issues of our time, which is why I like contemporary.”
As the art scene continues to evolve throughout the 21st century, Jacobus-Parker said she appreciates how SBMA embraces the new art styles and techniques and finds ways to become more accessible to the South Bend community.
She regularly finds herself asking, “In an era when, partly, people can travel more — but also the art world exists in-person, digitally and is visible to people in all these different ways — what’s the sort of meaningful lane that a regional museum can occupy?”
The answer: “The art history of a region gets written, gets told through institutions like this. … Local arts coverage is so important, because once a show comes down, what’s left of it?” Jacobus-Parker said.
Her role as a curator provides her with an opportunity to enrich her community — something she said she does not take for granted.
“A lot of what I do is help, in one way or another,” Jacobus-Parker said, “help artists show their work or communicate something about their work to a public.”
On exhibit
● What: “Around the Bend 2026 Exhibition”
● Where: South Bend Museum of Art, 120 S. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., South Bend
● When: through Aug. 23
● Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays; open until 8 p.m. the first Friday of each month
● Cost: Free
● For more information: Call 574-235-9102 or visit southbendart.org.
Email South Bend Tribune summer 2026 intern Katherine Hill at KTHill@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: 240 local artists featured at South Bend Museum of Art through Aug. 23
Reporting by Katherine Hill, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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By Katherine Hill, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
