NEWTOWN, PA — Imagine a world before Pinterest and online sites influenced design choices and tastes.
That is the world the public will enter when they step inside the Hicks Art Center Gallery's "Seeing Stella: An Installation by Jen Blazina" Sept. 9 to Oct. 17 at Bucks County Community College's Newtown Campus.
The solo artist exhibition examines the life and impact of Stella Elkins Tyler (1884-1963), on whose estate the college was founded more than 60 years ago in Newtown.
Jen Blazina, a Philadelphia-based sculptor and printmaker, creates an immersive tableau of sculptures, reliefs and 2D works inspired by Tyler's decoration of her Newtown mansion
built in 1930, her personal objects on display there, and the flora and fauna that surround the estate.
"The exhibition continues the theme of cultural evolution in America's history during this semiquincentennial year, following our highly successful 'Visions of America' show this
summer," said Clifford Eberly, the college's senior manager of galleries and exhibitions.
The public is invited to an opening reception on Wednesday, Sept. 9, from 5 to 7 p.m. with remarks at 6 p.m. Admission to the gallery and reception is free.
A visit to Tyler Hall sparks creativity
The seeds of the show were planted two years ago when Blazina visited the Newtown Campus and Tyler Hall to prepare for her contribution to the 2024 group exhibition "Skull Sessions" at the Hicks Art Center Gallery.
Blazina's imagination was sparked by seeing some of Tyler's personal items on display, such as a comb and brush vanity set, crystal eau de parfum bottles, and her suitcase imprinted with her initials "S.E.T." and still emblazoned with stamps from traveling on trans-Atlantic steamships more than 100 years ago.
Tyler Hall at Bucks County Community College. (Jeff Werner/Patch)
"Night Out in the 1920s," a cast glass sculpture inspired by the personal belongings of Stella Elkins Tyler, is among the works on exhibit in "Seeing Stella: An Installation by Jen Blazina" The solo artist exhibition examines the life of the musician, sculptor, and patron of the arts through objects and design at Bucks County Community College's Hicks Art Center Gallery September 9 to October 17. (Jen Blazina)
"Opposites," a cast glass sculpture inspired by the artist's visit to Bucks County Community College's historic Tyler Hall, is on exhibit in "Seeing Stella: An Installation by Jen Blazina." The solo artist exhibition examines the life of Stella Elkins Tyler through objects and design at the Hicks Art Center Gallery September 9 – October 17. (Jen Blazina)
The artist recognized a kinship in Tyler's fascinating belongings with her own curiosity in uniquely designed, highly decorative historical objects that function in utilitarian daily life and rituals.
Eberly worked closely with the artist to select pieces for the exhibition.
"Jen and I talked and texted for many months attempting to get inside Stella Tyler's decorative consciousness for Indian Council Rock, her and George Tyler's country manor estate," Eberly recalled. "The French Norman architecture and formal gardens, the hand-painted wallpaper, the opulence of the tapestries Stella made, combined with he stories written and related to us, all contributed to Jen's creative process of realizing this installation."
The serene gallery exhibition subtly alludes to the peace Tyler found in creating art and in being outdoors, noted Eberly.
"Jen's sculptures, reliefs and patterns visually communicate how Stella took pleasure in nature and the arts to find mental peace and to ameliorate the effects of losing loved ones on the Titanic and living through two world wars," said Eberly.
Stella Tyler's uncle and cousin, members of the Widener family of Philadelphia, went down with the Titanic on April 15, 1912. George Tyler (1883 – 1947), a former state commander of the American Legion, was devoted to helping veterans of The Great War return to society and overcome "shell shock" – what we now know as PTSD. He also collected original WWI propaganda posters, many of which remain in Bucks County
Community College's permanent collection.
Questioning the collection
Through her installation, the artist invites the public to question the purpose of the collected belongings and find the answers within their own minds.
For instance, what is the function of a cast glass, perfume bottle poof in this exhibition?
The glass poof clearly no longer functions as its soft, spraying original. However, as art, it takes on new, cultural value as an object of potential collectible desirability; a symbol of this mutable, transformative process. Some viewers might remember using a poof to spray a beautiful scent on their skin, says Blazina.
That memory now becomes a nostalgic transaction between artist, the sculpture, and the viewer.
While some may view conjuring nostalgia in art as a sentimental shortcut to comfort, Blazina digs deep, embracing it to signal personal and collective memories, and at the
same time, celebrating both historic decorative design and critiquing consumer culture.
Underneath it all, the artist asks, "Can we find total happiness in the objects we make and collect?"
This cast glass sculpture is a detail of "Through a Window Darkly" on exhibit in "Seeing Stella: An Installation by Jen Blazina" The solo artist exhibition examines the life of Stella Elkins Tyler through objects and design at Bucks County Community College's Hicks Art Center Gallery September 9 – October 17. (Jen Blazina)
In a note found in her exhibition catalogue to her art instructor and mentor Boris Blai, Stella Tyler wrote: "To my Maestro and 'Pupil'!! With all my thanks and deep appreciation for helping me to open the doors of Happiness."
"While we may not always be joyful, Tyler found her true happy place expanding her creative repertoire while courageously starting to make sculpture in her later years," said Blazina.
"Seeing Stella: An Installation by Jen Blazina" - funded by the college's Cultural Affairs Committee – is on view September 9 – October 17 at the Hicks Art Center Gallery at Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Road, Newtown. For a campus map and directions, visit bucks.edu/newtown.
Admission and parking are free. To learn more, visit hicksgallery.bucks.edu and follow on Instagram at @bcccartscomm.
Event Details
Title: "Seeing Stella: An Installation by Jen Blazina" Art Exhibition at Bucks County Community College
Date: September 9 – October 17, 2026.
Opening Reception: Wednesday, September 9, from 5 – 7 p.m., with remarks at6 p.m.
Location: Hicks Art Center Gallery, Bucks County Community College, 275 Swamp Rd., Newtown, PA 18940.
Cost: Free admission and free parking.
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