The Youngstown State University Department of Art is pleased to present “Fragmented Narrative: Language of the Sign,” an exhibition featuring the work of guest artist Ron Copeland, a multidisciplinary artist whose post-industrial aesthetic transforms discarded materials into compelling visual stories.

“Fragmented Narrative: Language of the Sign” will be held at the Judith Rae Solomon Gallery at Youngstown State University from Monday, August 25, through Friday, October 3.

Originally from Canton, Ohio, Copeland’s artistic vision is deeply rooted in his Rust Belt upbringing. In “Fragmented Narrative,” he explores how neighborhoods tell stories through their layered visual language. Faded storefront lettering, rusted gas pumps and hand-painted signs may seem like remnants of a disappearing world, but Copeland reveals how they speak to the endurance of community, the creativity of everyday labor and the beauty found in what remains.

Using materials sourced from secondhand shops, industrial sites and decommissioned elements from art museums and sign shops, Copeland constructs illuminated works, assemblages and sculptural pieces that echo collective memory. Through hand-painted signage and collaged artifacts, each piece pays tribute to the resilience of working-class culture and the often-overlooked artistry of vernacular design.

Rather than present a linear narrative, Copeland allows history to bleed through in layers. Paint is chipped and repainted. Words are half-visible. Surfaces are weathered. These choices reflect the imperfect nature of memory: overlapping, fragmented and deeply subjective. The works invite viewers to piece together their own stories and to interpret the remnants and imagine what once was.

The exhibition presents a body of work that reads like an archive of place-based memory, a dreamlike map drawn from the signage and surfaces of a fading American vernacular. Copeland assembles the eroded fragments of our collective visual landscape, treating each piece as a syllable in a broader language shaped by labor, decay, and nostalgia. Here, signage becomes more than a message—it becomes a dialect of belonging, labor, and legacy.

EXHIBITION DETAILS: The exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity to connect with the stories embedded in the built environment, to find meaning in detail and to discover beauty in fragments collaged together into a chorus of place and memory. This exhibition honors what endures through the handmade, the weathered, and the repurposed, celebrating craft, community, memory, and the power of visual language to preserve what matters.

Admission is free and open to the public. The gallery is open 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Parking is available in the Wick Avenue Deck (M30) for a $5 cash fee.

For more information, contact Katie Merrill, Cliffe College Coordinator of Community Engagement and Events, at 330.941.2307 or kamerrill@ysu.edu.