Feb. 16-March 20: Artist Leslie Barlow's Paintings Exhibited in Minnesota State Mankato's Conkling Gallery

Thursday, February 19, 2026
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Artist's lecture; Gallery reception

Mankato, Minn. – Artist Leslie Barlow’s paintings will be on display in an exhibit titled “A Practice of Being With” at Minnesota State University, Mankato’s Conkling Gallery (located in Nelson Hall 139) from Monday, Feb. 16 through Friday, March 20.

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at coverage permits. Please call 507-389-6412 to ensure the gallery is open. Campus visitor parking information is available at: https://www.mnsu.edu/visit/campus-visitor-parking/

Barlow will deliver an artist’s lecture Thursday, Feb. 19 from 6-7 p.m. in Ostrander Auditorium (located in Centennial Student Union), with a gallery reception from 7-8 p.m. following the lecture.

The following artist exhibit information was provided by Minnesota State Mankato’s Department of Creative Arts:

“A Practice of Being With” brings together life-sized oil portraits created across several years of Leslie Barlow’s practice, including works from “vision of a soft sun,” “Tracing (admiration, conversation, seeing),” “Within, Between, and Beyond,” and the recent series “Us, Becoming.” Together, these paintings invite viewers to slow down and reflect on how we come to know ourselves and one another through race, identity, care and belonging. Built from layers of vivid oil point and stitched fabric, the works hold moments of rest, joy, tenderness and liberation; moments made possible through shared presence and deep attention.

For more information, contact Edson Rosas, a Minnesota State Mankato faculty member and gallery director, at edson.rosas.2@mnsu.edu.

The complete 2025-2026 Conkling Gallery schedule is available at: https://hss.mnsu.edu/academic-programs/art/galleries/conkling-gallery/

The Minnesota State Mankato Department of Creative Arts is part of the University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 15,721 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 26 colleges and seven universities.