New Exhibit to Open in Chesapeake Gallery: A Common Thread

The Chesapeake Gallery at Harford Community College is proud to present A Common Thread, an exhibition by emerging artists Alivia Haltom, Ceanna Davis, Hannah Aust, Kayla Smith, Kelby Weaver, Krista Canoles, Nicole Wesoloski, and Sherrie Snyder. The exhibit will be on display on the second floor of the Student Center from August 28 to December 17, 2025. All are welcome to attend the opening reception on September 11, 6 to 7:30 PM in the Gallery.

This exhibition is a meditation on divergence and convergence. The artists work across disciplines: painting, printmaking, sculpture, and photography, each creating through distinct visual languages shaped by memory, material, and observation. Their practices differ in subject matter and style, but together they form a kind of conversation. One that reflects on the artist’s role in the world, the complexities of self-definition, and the evolving nature of creative labor. These works are not bound by a single theme or aesthetic, but by a spirit of exploration and mutual recognition.

Common Thread speaks to the tension and harmony found within creative difference. It acknowledges that while we often define ourselves by what sets us apart, there is power in proximity. There is value in gathering. The title refers not to a literal similarity but to a deeper connection. The invisible ties between artists who are navigating the early stages of their professional practices, asking similar questions in different ways. How does one make space for themselves in an oversaturated world? What does it mean to create sincerely, without permission? Where does art belong, and who is it for?

The Artists

Alivia Haltom
Alivia is a Midwest-based artist interested in large-scale fiber sculptures and printmaking. Her current body of work explores the space and change that exists between death and new growth by transforming found and fibrous materials into figures and abstract forms. She is inspired by the growth of mold and fungi using modular sculptures by needle felting, quilting, as well as elements incorporating the printmaking process of photo etching. Alivia’s work has been shown in the Kavanaugh Gallery at Fine Line Creative Arts Center in DeKalb, Illinois.

Ceanna Davis
“My name is Ceanna Davis, and I’m proud to call Lancaster County my home. Art has been a fundamental part of my life ever since my parents instilled a love for creativity in me from a young age. I vividly remember starting art lessons at the age of six, and I’ve been painting ever since.

When the pandemic hit, I turned to my art even more. It was a source of comfort and stability during uncertain times. That’s when I decided to take my passion for painting to the next level and applied to Pennsylvania College of Art & Design (PCAD). At PCAD, I found a community that embraced and nurtured my creativity, allowing me to delve deeper into my craft.

My art serves as a reflection of my journey, and through my current thesis body, I aim to  express my unique experience with girlhood and the inherent growing pains it entails. With the medium of paint, I endeavor to narrate stories that resonate deeply with me, stories that I find difficult to articulate through any other means.

I am excited to continue my artistic journey, sharing my unique perspective and the beauty I find in everyday life through my art. It’s a privilege to create, and I hope to inspire others to embrace their own creativity and find solace in self-expression.”

Hannah Aust
Hannah transferred to Pennsylvania College of Art & Design in 2021, where she has had the opportunity to participate in the international photography exchange blog with students at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. She has also shown her photographic works in the Hayden Gallery’s show “Home,” as well as a transfer student show. In 2023 Aust had the opportunity to show photographs in the “University Student Show: Emerging Perspectives” in the PL130 Gallery in Philadelphia.

Kayla Smith
Kayla is a multi-disciplinary fine artist and arts advocate with an affinity for curation and exhibition design. Her passion for art truly shines its brightest during the creative process of any project, whether making her work or installing that of other artists. Her hands-on creative process is heavily impacted by the materials she uses. The ability to play and experiment acts as a meditative practice that allows Smith to explore her subconscious. This results in a completed artwork that expresses her emotions in that collective moment. She hopes these works evoke the viewer’s emotions similarly. Along with her work, she transforms gallery spaces into immersive experiences that are representative of the artist’s vision while captivating the audience. She hopes to use exhibitions as a platform for voices to be heard and art to be celebrated.

Kelby Weaver
Through his traditional and mixed media images, Kelby is an artist living in Lancaster, PA. With his emphasis on the traditional approach to illustration, he hopes to make work that builds emotional connection between subject and viewer regardless of client, subject or composition. Their works endeavor to redefine the self and the role belonging plays in the emotional wellbeing of an artist. He was accepted into the group exhibition “Home” at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design this year in 2024 and a solo show Rock Lititz Show – Rock Lititz-Group Show- 2023.

Krista Canoles
Krista is a multidisciplinary artist whose work explores the intersections of psychology and the natural world. Through printmaking, drawing, and sculpture, she investigates how cycles of nature mirror the human experience, particularly how we process trauma, memory, and identity. Holding an Associate of Art & Design degree with a minor in Psychology and a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, Krista plans to further her education, pursuing an MFA with ambitions of becoming a college professor and career artist.

Nicole Wesoloski
Nicole is a Fine Artist receiving her BFA from the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. During her time at PCAD, she primarily worked in the mediums of printmaking and sculpture. The process behind her work is just as important as the final product. Her work explores themes based on introspection and reflection on the human experience. This idea can be demonstrated by skewing visual expectations of everyday items. By presenting her works as a mixed media installation, she invites the viewer to reimagine the environment of her space and objects.

Sherrie Snyder
Using a variety of different mediums such as photo transfer, natural material sculpture, found object sculpture, acrylic painting, and collage, Sherrie is able to focus on the deterioration of memory. This work looks at the ways that memories blend and merge creating new realities. This body of work brings up questions regarding the truth about memory. Through the various mediums and processes used to create this thesis work, Sherrie was able to learn more about herself and more about the natural world around her.

Sherrie has a major in fine art and a minor in art history and received both PCAD’s Promising Artists’ Scholarship and PCAD’s Institutional Grant. Sherrie has assisted and aided in art healing classes and is inspired to share the healing that can happen through art making.