On Thursday Dec. 3, “Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate” opened at the Seton Art Gallery.

“Speaking Volumes” is a seven-year old exhibition that traveled to the University of New Haven from Iowa, and began even farther away, in Montana.

Artists were given the opportunity to respond to white supremacists books to showcase the brutality and problems faced in today’s society and explore race relations around our country. Many incorporated the actual books into their art, while others pulled ideas and events from them to inspire change.

The main theme of the artwork was community rebuilding and social recovery in the face of hatred and cruelty. The exhibition represented 39 artists of various nationalities and races, all coming to together under the goal of promoting diversity and positivity in response to the recent hatred and violence this nation has experienced.

The exhibition ran from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., right before the University’s production of Crisis: A Performance about Race in America opened in Bucknall Theatre. It worked in tandem with Crisis to highlight many of the same issues, using art to make people think about the societal issues the nation must deal with on a regular basis. The artist’s different backgrounds provide a vast pool of knowledge about many differing perspectives and opinions on the same nationwide issues.

Laura Marsh, director of the Seton Art Gallery, believes it is for that reason that the exhibition is so powerful.

“Presenting a show of this caliber, coming to us from Montana and Iowa, provides us with the opportunity to explore race relations in the south and north,” she said. “Our country is divided on many issues, and it is through art that new channels of communication can open up and inspire us to examine how we were raised in contrast to our life experiences.”

“Opening night attracted a cross section of UNH faculty, staff, students, and members from the New Haven community,” said Marsh.

Artists and admirers filled the gallery to view and discuss the vast collection presented; each person was ready and eager to share their own reflections as well as hear some of the artists talk about their personal meaning behind their artwork. All those who walked through the gallery took pleasure in viewing the vast collection.

Freshman Rebecca Santos described the exhibition “riveting and fascinating,” saying “it was interesting because it related so well to what has been happening in the news.”

The exhibition was a huge success as it opened many eyes to the love that can rise from the hatred surrounding injustice and brutality.