“Beyond the Waves: Deaf Art” exhibit takes viewers on a journey through Deaf arts

The Linda K. Jordan Gallery at Gallaudet is now hosting an exhibition titled “Beyond the Waves: Deaf Art” that features over 30 Deaf artists from around the world. The exhibit opened on September 29, 2025 and will close on April 3, 2026.

“Beyond the Waves” honors the rich history of De’VIA (Deaf View/Image Art), Deaf Way festivals, and the evolution of Deaf visual culture worldwide. It traces Deaf art from early resistance and cultural affirmation to contemporary expressions and speculative future visions.

The exhibition is part of a campus-wide arts experience that will be available during Homecoming 2025. It is strategically aligned with Deaf Way Film Festival at Elstad Auditorium, as well as the arts-centered renovation of Gallaudet’s House One. Visitors are encouraged to experience the Gallaudet campus to the fullest through each arts program. In addition, the National Deaf Life Museum hosts groundbreaking exhibit “We, Native Deaf People, Are Still Here!”.

A carefully curated journey

“Beyond the Waves” is managed by Noel King, ’12, Curator for the Office of Arts, Culture, and Experience. With Deaf Way Film Festival approaching, she drew inspiration from the legacy of past Deaf Way festivals on the Gallaudet campus. In 1989, Deaf Way I heavily featured De’VIA artists during the movement’s first wave.

“‘Beyond the Waves’ honors generations of Deaf artists who have turned resistance into pride and oppression into expression,” says King. 

The exhibition shows the evolution of the De’VIA movement over the years, as well as artists who have worked outside the De’VIA label and expanded the possibilities of Deaf arts. As visitors walk through the gallery, they experience a firsthand journey through four distinct stages.

The first stage features a selection of the artists innovating in the leadup to De’VIA’s emergence. Then, the exhibit highlights the first wave of De’VIA artists, which was heavily focused on the shared traumas of the Deaf experience and a celebration of ASL. The third stage shows how Deaf artists began to explore a deeper understanding of the deaf experience and liberation.

The fourth stage of the exhibit features modern artists who are thinking beyond the deaf experience and incorporating their own unique identities into their work. Multimedia works from Chella Man; Christine Sun Kim; Daniel Katz-Hernandez, ’14; and Janhavi Khemka spark ideas about how technology will impact art going forward.

At the end of the journey is the Future Lab, a space for artists and visitors to come together and explore what possibilities exist for the future. How will Deaf artists create new movements and styles, and create works that transcend the deaf experience? Visitors can write or draw their thoughts and post them on the Future Lab wall.

King hopes that the exhibition inspires more Deaf and hard of hearing artists to create new works and celebrate Deaf culture.

“The future of Deaf art belongs to those unafraid to imagine,” says King. “It begins right here as artists experiment with limitless possibilities. The next wave of Deaf art begins in community, grows through culture, and thrives in conversation.”

Sneak peek

Enjoy this sneak peek of a just few artworks from “Beyond the Waves”!

Pre-De’VIA

De’VIA, First Wave

De’VIA, Second Wave

The Future

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“Beyond the Waves: Deaf Art” is available for viewing from September 29, 2025 to April 3, 2026.

The Linda K. Jordan Gallery is located in the Washburn Arts Center on the Gallaudet campus, open 9:00am-4:30pm Monday through Friday. Click here for a map.