Four exhibitions open Tuesday at Youngtown State University’s McDonough Museum of Art.

The fall slate includes “Arron Foster: In_A_Sense,” “Aislinn Janek’: Landscape as a Form of Knowledge,” “Michael Boyd Roman: Negus Weighting on a Miracle” and “Justin Sorensen: June 13th.”

Foster is an assistant professor of art at Kent State University at Stark and has degrees from East Carolina University and the University of Georgia. His prints and installations have been shown nationally and internationally at galleries, museums and art centers.

According to Foster, “Through this work, I hope to create a dialogue between myself and the viewer that provides an opportunity for the shared exploration and interpretation of places. I believe that by developing a shared understanding of the physical world, we can encourage empathy for the spaces we occupy and perhaps promote a greater sense of stewardship and care.”

Janek is a New York City-based artist whose interdisciplinary practice explores the material language of painting, sewing and memory. She recently had a solo exhibition in Ashiya, Japan, and has exhibitions scheduled in Tokyo and Kobe in 2026. Janek graduated from YSU with a degree in communication studies with minors in fine art and psychology and had residencies in France, Czechia and Japan.

“This exhibition explores how the physical world becomes a repository of human perception and meaning,” according to Janek. “Through layered surfaces, stitched interruptions and printed residues of place, it considers landscape not as neutral ground but as a site where memory, language and history are inscribed and fragmented.”

Originally from Atlanta, Roman is an assistant professor of design and black visual cultures at Oberlin College & Conservatory and previously was the visual arts program director at Morehouse College. He earned an MFA from California State University-Northridge, an MA from the Maryland Institute and a BFA from Syracuse University.

The McDonough exhibition “portrays the ordinary grace of contemporary black men by blending elements from hip hop and urban culture with art history and religious iconography. In showcasing divine black beauty, I provide contemporary images that are positive and spiritual to counter long-held historical narratives that are applied to contemporary representations of black masculinity.”

Sorensen’s “June 13th” draws from the format of Chinese handscroll. According to the artist, “While the pictorial logic of the West has traditionally maintained a fixed perspective, the handscroll subverts this tendency…. The viewer’s perspective unfolds as the scroll is unfurled, allowing the composition to be discovered as you move through the image. The pieces on display…emphasize this aspect of the handscroll, while considering how recent technological developments shape our understanding of the world.”

Sorensen is an Ohio-based artist who works across multiple mediums and visual traditions. He received a BFA from Kutztown University and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design.

An opening reception for all four exhibits is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 5, at the McDonough, 525 Wick Ave., and all four shows will be on display through Oct. 25.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, call 330-841-1400.