Alley Art Project: Student Exhibition Opening Reception & Mural Design Unveiling with Devan Shimoyama

Location: The Rockwell Museum

Free and open to family and friends of HSLC students | No registration required

Refreshments will be served 

5:15 p.m. | Opening Remarks  

Join us as we celebrate the opening of a new student exhibition for the Alley Art Project with Teaching Mural Artist, Devan Shimoyama, who is also represented in The Rockwell Museum’s collection. During, this student reception, we will reveal the 2026 mural design and recognize the collaboration between The Rockwell, the High School Learning Center (HSLC) of the Corning-Painted Post Area School District, and the Southeast Steuben County Library (SSCL). 

Inspired by the work of Devan Shimoyama–including his February (2022) hoodie and Le Mat (The Fool) (2022) self-portrait, both on view at the Museum–students created two interconnected works of art. Using mixed media materials such as upcycled clothing, artificial flowers, jewels, textiles, and acrylic paint, students adorned garments to honor people who have meaningfully influenced their lives. They also selected flower species to represent those individuals and painted the flowers on mural cloth. These symbolic flowers are incorporated into the mural design and will be collaged into the mural onsite when we paint in August.  

This year’s Alley Art Project highlights how students are actively engaged in telling stories from their own perspectives and amplifying voices that might otherwise be overlooked. By incorporating personal experiences and symbolism into the collaborative mural, the project reframes viewpoints and invites viewers to see familiar themes in fresh, meaningful ways. 

About Artist Devan Shimoyama   

Devan Shimoyama is a visual artist based in Pittsburgh, PA. He graduated from Penn State University in 2011 with a BFA in Drawing/Painting. He received his MFA from Yale University School of Art in Painting/Printmaking in 2014. Shimoyama’s work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the United States. His solo exhibition Cry, Baby was presented at the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, in 2018. Other major recent exhibitions include When We See Us, Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa; Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, at FRONT International Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, Cleveland, OH, USA; Tell Me, at CAC Malaga, Malaga, Spain; and All the Rage, at Kunstpalais, Erlangen, Germany. 

About Alley Art Project

The Alley Art Project is a unique educational mural program designed to connect local students to both The Rockwell collection and their community at large. The Rockwell has partnered with the Corning-Painted Post High School Learning Center (HSLC) since the program’s inception in 2010, working with youth to beautify public spaces. The program has included many youth organizations during its lifespan, including the Laura Richardson Houghton Corning Youth Center (2012), and more recently SUNY Corning Community College (2022, 2024). The Alley Art Project embraces start-to-finish, project-based learning initiatives with the idea that public art has the power to bring people together, encourage conversation, and ignite the imagination. 

Each mural project is inspired by art in The Rockwell’s collection and invites students to meaningfully contribute to the community’s visual landscape. Guided by professional artists and educators, students engage in the creative process through critical inquiry and personal connections to the project’s themes and selected works. This holistic program encourages art exploration and self-expression, fostering safe dialogue, and developing a stronger sense of self. 

The 2026 Alley Art Project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Triangle Fund, and the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, Inc.