An installation by artist Darla Barolini that uses large-scale paintings and classroom desks to explore themes of education, connection and community.
The Classroom is on view at the Dougherty Arts Center from July 6 through August 15, 2026. It's an installation by artist Darla Barolini that brings together large-scale paintings and actual classroom desks, and it's hanging in the Julia C. Butridge Gallery inside the center.
Barolini builds the show around the classroom as a space, looking at it from both the teacher's and the student's perspectives. The paintings are vibrant and expressive, depicting imagined classroom scenes drawn from her own experience as a teacher. The desks work alongside them, blending art history with teenage iconography to build an immersive environment you can actually walk through. Together, they weigh connection, community, and growth against isolation and apathy, reflecting the classroom's broader societal impact.
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The show sits in the Julia C. Butridge Gallery, which is part of the Dougherty Arts Center—a multicultural community arts center that's been opening up creative expression to Austin residents for more than 41 years. It's free to visit, so you can drop in whenever you're nearby. The installation runs from July 6 through August 15, 2026, at the Dougherty Arts Center in Austin.
Date
28 July – 15 August
10:00
Price
Free
Recommended Age
+14 years
