UAH hosts Contemporary Art Fellow Imin Yeh March 24-27; works now on view in Wilson Hall Gallery

Paper sculptures by acclaimed artist Imin Yeh – including a slender tower of building blocks and a row of wall clocks – are on view through March 27, 2026, in the Wilson Hall Gallery on the campus of The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). The exhibition “All in a Line” is part of the 2026 UAH Contemporary Art Fellow program, for which Yeh was selected. The artist will be on campus March 24-27 for a series of workshops and talks for the university community and the general public.

Michael Mercier | UAH

Paper, in the hands of acclaimed artist Imin Yeh, becomes a method for recreating and commenting on common objects in the world around us. From a series of meticulously crafted wall clocks frozen in time to a realistic rainbow pathway of crayons, her sculptures surprise the eyes and engage the imagination.

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) Department of Art, Art History, & Design is bringing Yeh to campus as the 2026 UAH Contemporary Art Fellow. Her work is currently on display in the exhibition “All in a Line” in the Wilson Hall Gallery through March 27, and she will visit campus March 24-27 for a series of workshops and talks for students, faculty, community artists and the general public. UAH is a part of The University of Alabama System.

Yeh, a printmaker and sculptor, is associate professor of art and director of Foundational Studies at the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University. Local art lovers can learn more about her and her work during a public reception for the artist on Thursday, March 26, from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Wilson Hall Gallery. A public artist talk will follow from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Morton Hall 145.

Printmaker and sculptor Imin Yeh, associate professor of art and director of Foundational Studies at the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, is the 2026 UAH Contemporary Art Fellow in the UAH Department of Art, Art History, & Design.

Courtesy Imin Yeh

The 2026 UAH Contemporary Art Fellow program is supported by a $10,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.

Dr. Laura-Lake Smith, assistant professor of modern and contemporary art history at UAH is project director for the grant. Other members of the Contemporary Art Fellow Committee are Kathryn Jill Johnson, department chair and professor of art, painting and drawing; Katie Baldwin, professor of art – printmaking, and Ilene Galloway, gallery coordinator. Faculty and a selection panel from the local arts community chose Yeh for the fellowship.

Before Yeh arrives at UAH, members of the university and the community have a chance to support her work by participating in a communal art project built around the concept of the general store. “The Dollar General Project” will kick off on Saturday, March 7, from noon to 5 p.m. at UAH’s Studio 1047 at Lowe Mill Arts & Entertainment, 2211 Seminole Drive.

“The dollar store is the general store of the moment, popping up in ubiquity in communities throughout the country,” Yeh says. “It is also a billion-dollar business, capitalizing on needs and conveniences.”

“One of the strengths of Imin Yeh’s collaborative project ‘The Dollar General’ is that it brings together the efforts of many people to complete a project that the artist would not be able to do in isolation,” Baldwin says. “Through these workshops, our community participates in making a work of art that has a greater impact because of group participation.”

Yeh’s goal at UAH is for participants to make 975 paper Dollar Generals. As of 2025 that’s the number of Dollar General stores in Alabama.

UAH Contemporary Art Fellow Imin Yeh invites the community, both on campus and off, to participate in an art project focusing on the idea of the general store and its role in our society. Her goal is for participants to make 975 paper Dollar Generals, the number of stores in Alabama as of 2025, during her fellowship at UAH, which runs through March 27, 2026.

Courtesy Imin Yeh

“My practice has long been interested in visualizing data, making images of everyday facts,” Yeh says. “This is an ambitious prompt but made easy through many hands. The communal craft, a way to be together and to chat, listen and to use our hands.

“The General Store is a participatory project in conjunction with ‘All in a Line,’ an exhibition of everyday things, made extraordinary through craft, labor and accumulation. The General Store is a gift, a paper toy, a postcard to send to friends, a belief that art can and should sometimes be cheap and easy, too. I hope viewers can make a General Store or two, and in exchange take a card or two and send a gift, a greeting to a friend.”

Yeh’s schedule of events for UAH students and faculty includes two days of workshops in printmaking and sculpture. She will discuss her work during the contemporary art history research and writing seminar for juniors and seniors in studio art, graphic design, and art history taught by Smith. Yeh will also speak with the professional practices class for seniors taught by Johnson.

For more information on the programs offered vist the UAH Department of Art, Art History, & Design website. For more information on the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, visit their websites: Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts homepage and Helen Frankenthaler Foundation homepage.