For over twenty-five years, the Gallery at Florida SouthWestern State College had an enduring friendship with world-renowned artist Robert Rauschenberg. Exhibitions of Mr. Rauschenberg’s work started in 1980 and the Gallery was host to numerous world premiere showings, including the unveiling of the first installation of the 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece. The following is a list of the fifteen Rauschenberg exhibitions held at Florida SouthWestern State College:
1980 February 3 – 27: Spreads and Scales series
1982 February 6 – 26: The ¼ Mile or 2 Furlong Piece
190 feet of the piece covered every inch of the walls. It was a work in progress and at one point reached 790 feet long.
1983 July 22 – September 9: The second footage of the ¼ Mile or 2 Furlong Piece
1984 October 6 – 9: The Salvage series
1986 March 22 – 26: Rauschenberg: newest continuation of the ¼ Mile or 2 Furlong Piece
1987 March 26 – May 7: Robert Rauschenberg: Gluts (exhibited in the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall)
1988 December – March: Rejected Rauschenbergs (exhibited in the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall)
1993 April 30 – June 13: Rauschenberg
2000 March 10 – April 16: Robert Rauschenberg: Recent Work
2002 March 28 – April 28: Robert Rauschenberg: Recent Work
2004 Gallery of Fine Art at Edison Community College renamed Bob Rauschenberg Gallery. The dedication of the Gallery coincided with the exhibition, Scenarios from June 4 – July 11.
2005 January 7 – February 26: A Quake in Paradise (Labyrinth) 1994
This was the first time the work was exhibited in the U.S. The piece can be assembled in various configurations that viewers walk through and around, giving it a maze-like quality.
2007 January 12 – February 24: Rauschenberg: Scenarios
2008 January 11 – February 9: Robert Rauschenberg, Artist-Citizen: Posters for a Better World
2008 June 21 – July 3: Celebrating the Life of Robert Rauschenberg
2014 October 22 – January 24, 2015: RAUSCHENBERG: China/America Mix
2016 February 26 – May 14, 2016: RAUSCHENBERG & ALBERS: Box Vs. Square
Source: Some of the exhibition information came from Rauschenberg / Art and Life, 2004, by Mary Lynn Kotz