“Faces of New York #1,” Nasir Young, gouache on paper, 2026. The Montco Cultural Center will host Nasir Young in the Theater Gallery on the Blue Bell Campus Jan. 11 to Feb. 26. Photo by Patrick Rodgers
A Montgomery County Community College Fine Arts, AFA, alumnus is coming back to campus to showcase his latest exhibition.
The Montco Cultural Center hosts artist Nasir Young, ’17, Monday, Jan.11 to Friday, Feb. 26, 2027, in the Theater Gallery of the Science Center on the Blue Bell Campus, 1313 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422. An opening reception will be held Friday, Jan. 22, 2027, from 5-7 p.m. The exhibition and reception are free and open to all and parking is free.
For more information, visit the Cultural Events landing page..
The exhibition will feature around 30 works of gouache on paper, as well as sketches.
“Nasir Young is an acute observer of city life, architecture, everyday environments, and objects that most people take for granted,” said Galleries Manager Patrick Rodgers. “With the energy of sketches, his paintings trace the elusive identity of places as mundane as storefronts, garage entrances, and freeway underpasses, hinting at their layers of history.”
After completing an Associate of Fine Arts degree from MCCC in 2017, Young went on to complete a BFA at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 2021 and an MFA from the University of Delaware in 2026. He has exhibited numerous solo shows in New York and Philadelphia since 2021. Young is represented by Gross-McCleaf Gallery.
Young said he was excited and proud to be back on campus for a solo show, having previously exhibited work during the College’s alumni exhibitions over the years. He still uses many of the skills he learned as an MCCC student.
“It’s nice to have a homecoming on a grander scale,” he said. “Montco helped me reestablish myself when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make art anymore. I can’t speak highly enough of the faculty. They helped me hone my watercolor work. They made me think about my work and apply myself.”
Young said he’s excited for the exhibit because it includes a body of work from a time he spent in London a couple of years ago.
“It’s part of my “Faces of” series where I’m looking at building store fronts and learning a lot about what they’re telling you,” he said. “Focusing on what you can analyze from a door front. It tells you about the business, the clientele, those sorts of things.”
Young challenged visitors to find hidden easter eggs in his paintings. One painting of New York, for example, includes a flyer promoting the Ministry of Awe art museum in Philadelphia that he included for eagle-eyed viewers to find.
“It’s fun,” he said “You’ll miss them on a first glance. When you revisit it, you’ll find humorous things in my work.”
For more information about the Nasir Young exhibition, contact Galleries Manager Patrick Rodgers.