The Sawhill Memorial Gallery stands in memory to the original Sawhill Gallery, which stood just steps away, and to the directors who oversaw its programming.
The wood-lined walls mimic those that lined the old gallery's walls; its accessible location is an homage to Stuart Downs and Gary Freeburg, who played major roles in elevating the visibility of the arts within the School of Art, Design and Art History and throughout the JMU campus. This humble nod affirms SADAH as a place of vital discussion in the visual and all that the visual asks of us.
Matthew Hardwick: Butterfly Plates | February 2–13, 2026
Matthew Hardwick the Studio Technician for James Madison University will show a collection of "Butterfly Plates" in the Sawhill Memorial Gallery at JMU from February 2nd - 13th, 2026. These plates are sculptural vessels fired here in the Shenandoah valley in a local wood fired kiln. They were pressed into a mold that was cut from a block of wood with a chainsaw. Only glazed on the interior of the vessel one can see glaze and clay recipes created by the artist but completed by flame. Firing in a wood kiln continues the artists use of process not only as a means, but as an underlying principle of his work.
