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W&L’s Staniar Gallery Presents Mary Ruth Moore’s ‘Glass and Light, Time and Place The retrospective of the late American photographer opens Oct. 19.

Staniar Gallery
October 13, 2026

Mary Ruth Moore, Ladies in Church, archival digital print

Washington and Lee University’s Staniar Gallery is pleased to present “Glass and Light, Time and Place,” featuring works by the late photographer Mary Ruth Moore. The exhibit will be on view in Lykes Atrium from Oct. 19 through Dec. 11. A public lecture is slated for 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 27 in Wilson Concert Hall in the Lenfest Center for the Arts.

The exhibition and reception events are free and open to the public.

Moore (1936-2023) is best known for her use of historical photo methods, including pinhole cameras and long-exposure processes. Using antique equipment and paper negatives, her work emphasized duration, imperfection and the expressive qualities of natural light.

“I’m always aware, to the very depths of me, that I am drawing a picture with light,” said Moore, whose photographs glow with the luminous intensity of Georgia mornings, Italian interiors and the quiet moments of everyday life.

Born in the Piedmont region of Georgia, Moore lived and worked on the land held by her family for generations, a setting that profoundly informed her imagery. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Montevallo and her M.A. in art education from the University of Georgia. Moore taught at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art for more than 40 years and taught photography with the UGA study abroad program in Cortona, Italy, for 10 summers. While Moore viewed herself as primarily an educator, her daughter, Laura Lee Samford, has championed her mother’s artwork, curating Moore’s work for current audiences to explore.

For more information about the 2026-27 exhibition and programming schedule, visit the Staniar Gallery’s website.

Staniar Gallery is located on the second floor of Wilson Hall, in Washington and Lee University’s Lenfest Center for the Arts. When the campus is open to the public, gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, please call 540-458-8861.

Don’t miss Dan Estabrook’s exhibit “Dumb Skulls and Souvenirs,” running concurrently in Staniar Gallery from Oct. 19 through Dec. 11.

Estabrook’s work features 19th-century photographic processes alongside drawing, painting and sculpture. The works in the “Dumb Skulls” series are ambrotypes on black glass, while the works in “Souvenirs” are tintypes, some of them incised or altered. Through these practices, Estabrook explores themes of memory, loss and the subjective nature of historical narrative.