Moral Compass: Artists Respond to Crises

Temple Judea Museum exhibition January – March 2021

DIANA TAFLIN MYERS

Diana Myers is an artist who creates sculptures, assemblages and collages with mixed media. She has studied art history and fine arts at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as at Cheltenham and other community art centers and during trips in the U.S and abroad. She has had solo shows at the Theatre for the New City in New York as well as Gratz College, the Old City Jewish Art Center, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia and participated in group shows at venues including the Island Center for the Arts in Skopelos, Greece, the Ambre Gallery in Bethlehem, PA, the Da Vinci Art Alliance in Philadelphia, the Artworks Gallery in Chestertown, MD, the Temple Judea Museum in Elkins Park, PA, Rosemont College in Villanova, PA, and the Markheim Gallery in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She is a member of the Cheltenham Printmakers Guild and has received awards from the Cheltenham Art Center.

The pieces in “Moral Compass: Artists Respond to Crisis” are all from her series entitled “SOS: 2020.”  They were all created since March 2020 in response to the pandemic, racism, immigration policy and the incomprehensible chaos and uncertainty caused by these events.  

“Sheltering in Place” is an assemblage depicting the social isolation of families and individuals during the pandemic, each represented by a different material including false teeth, game pieces, and wooden cubes.  “Racial Inequity in America” is a mixed media collage that depicts the racial imbalance in this country that has resulted in the submersion, subjugation and marginalization of people of color.  “I Can’t Breathe” is a mixed media relief that reminds us not only of the murder of George Floyd, but also the inability to breathe under the masks protecting us from COVID 19 and recent attempts under the current administration to constrict democracy in the USA.  

“DON’T Send us Your Tired, Your Poor,” is a sculpture railing against the current immigration policy that is antithetical to all we should stand for in this country. Finally, “The Best of Times and the Worst of Times” is a mixed media collage that was inspired by the murder of George Floyd and the social unrest it instigated. The names in red are all of minorities slain by police, while the names in yellow include some of the heroes of our time, including Nelson Mandela, Golda Meir and the Dalai Lama.  These and other heroes remind us to hold out hope of better times to come.    

 For more information contact dianatmyers@gmail.com