Rosa’s lasting impact

Humanity and the environment will come together as the Bank Left Gallery honors one WSU professor with an exhibit showcasing his environment-themed artwork.

Eugene Rosa, a WSU sociology professor, died last February of lung cancer. He left behind a lasting legacy not only through his teaching, but also through his art.

The Bank Left Gallery in Palouse, Washington, installed an exhibit displaying Rosa’s complete collection including 48 pieces in total.

Rosa’s art is described as thought-provoking and interesting. He took discarded, everyday objects and created something meaningful out of them, said Nelson Duran, owner of the Bank Left Gallery.

“His art shows what is being done to the environment because we’re not taking care of it,” Duran said.

He was making a political statement with his art about the government and society’s effect on the environment, said Pamela Duran, WSU director of international programs.

“You won’t go to the gallery and see beautiful paintings, you will see objects we have thrown away, put together in a very thoughtful way,” Pamela said.

As a sociology professor, Rosa was especially interested in man’s effect on the environment and the sociology of science, Pamela said.

“The whole idea of what the earth could sustain was what he was concerned with,” Pamela said.

Rosa’s art can be described as ecolage, showing reality from discarded objects, she said. He was trying to show people what kind of effect they were having on the environment.

“He was able to make beauty out of waste,” Nelson said. “His art is impossible to describe, you have to see it to fully understand what he was trying to say.”

The majority of the pieces on display are from Rosa’s family collection, Nelson said.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see his work,” he said. “It would be great for the community to come and celebrate his life by connecting with his art.”

Rosa was an artist as well as an intellectual who wished to make a difference not only through his teaching but through his art and writings as well, Nelson said.

Rosa was known as a very intelligent man, said Robert MacAuslan, a WSU instructor in international programs.

“He was very dedicated to his students and his research,” MacAuslan said. “With his graduate students in particular, he was always mentoring them and making himself available to help them.”

In addition to being an artist and respected professor, Rosa was also an author. He wrote books that are very important to people’ lives, future and world, Pamela said.

“Everything Rosa created was from the heart,” Nelson said.

The Left Bank Gallery will open the exhibit “Installations, Love, and Environment” Saturday from noon to 3:00 p.m.