University Galleries
A glass portrait, in which a golden face is surrounded by flowers of varying shades of blue, green, and brown. The eyes and lips of the face are closed. The artwork is displayed on a dusty, rust-pink wall.

Layo Bright: Invasive Blooms

Layo Bright: Invasive Blooms

Kasser Theater Lobby
February 1 – May 4, 2025

Through sculpture, artist Layo Bright delves into themes of time, feminism, migration, and the African diaspora. Her practice employs blown, fused, and cast glass processes, along with mixed media, such as textiles, wood, and ceramics, to engage ideas about individual and community identity.

This exhibition features recent and new works, including the debut of an hourglass sculpture that marks the passage of time and Bloom portraits created in collaboration with the Montclair State University community. These portraits incorporate casts of faces of students, faculty, and staff, accompanied by their migration stories and reflections on identity, traditions, beliefs, and empowerment.

Press Release
Library Guide
Schedule A Group Visit

Artist Reception

  • Tuesday, February 4, 5 – 7 p.m.
  • Meet the artist at the opening reception of Layo Bright in the Alexander Kasser Theater lobby.
  • Remarks by the artist Layo Bright and Director Megan C. Austin at 6 p.m
  • Admission is free and open to the public
  • We believe in making our events accessible and inclusive for everyone in our community. If you require accommodations or have questions about accessibility, please don’t hesitate to contact the University Galleries at galleries@montclair.edu or 973-655-3382. We want to ensure that every participant attending our programs can engage fully without barriers or limitations.
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Upcoming Events

View our complete programming schedule on Eventbrite.

Art Forum

  • Monday, February 10, 5:30 p.m.
  • Calcia Hall 135
  • Art Forum is a speaker series featuring artists, designers, art historians, curators, and art critics from around the world presenting their work and ideas in an open forum, hosted by the Department of Art & Design. Layo Bright will discuss her latest work in the exhibition Invasive Blooms.
  • Admission is free and open to the public
Explore exclusive content on our digital guide

Download our free digital guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app created by Bloomberg Philanthropies. Hear insights from the curator and artist, and explore responses from students, faculty, and community members through audio, photo and video features.

About the Artist


Portrait of a woman with long black hair. Behind her are bright glass flowers, ranging in varying shades of pinks and purples.

Layo Bright (b. 1991 in Lagos, Nigeria; lives and works in Brooklyn, New York) received a law degree from Babcock University in 2014 and an MFA from the Parsons School of Design in 2018. She has exhibited her work at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgewood, CT; Museum of Glass, Tacoma, WA; MICA’s Meyerhoff Gallery, Baltimore, MD; Smack Mellon, Brooklyn, NY; Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY; and Halsey Mckay Gallery, East Hampton, NY.