FSU Panama City Art Exhibit Features Two Local Artists

Contemporary works by Yourick and Zimchek will be displayed Sept. 19-Oct. 18.

Florida State University Panama City will host a month-long exhibition, “Many Hands Make Light Work,” a contemporary art exhibit featuring the work of local artists Mandy Yourick and Jamie Zimchek. The show will open with an artist introduction and public reception in the Holley Academic Center atrium, 4750 Collegiate Drive, from 5-7 p.m. on Sept. 19.

“FSU PC encourages cultural engagement in the community through our Illumination Event Series,” said Irvin Clark, Ed.D., FSU PC associate dean for Students and Strategic Initiatives. “Art exhibits are just one way of bringing the community and students together in an environment designed to encourage conversation. This is a part of our mission as a university—opening doors for discussion.”

Both Yourick and Zimchek are instructors in the Visual and Performing Arts department at Gulf Coast State College. By merging site-based textile forms, wall-hung works, and a participatory workshop, “Many Hands Make Light Work” will empower participants of all backgrounds to contribute to a shared cultural fabric, both literally and metaphorically. The exhibit models how collective effort can lighten both creative burden and human connection.

“As locally based artists and educators, we’re delighted to have the opportunity to bring our practices and the community together this way,” said Zimchek, a multi-disciplinary conceptual artist. “Yourick and I attended the same graduate school almost a decade apart, but as we worked together on components for ‘Many Hands Make Light Work,’ we realized just how interconnected our roots really are.”

Zimchek’s work revolves around an exploration of the popular narratives promulgated by power systems in private and public domains. She has an MA in Mediterranean Studies from King’s College London, an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and is co-founder of the | | | Artist Fund.

“In blending material and meaning, the exhibit invites multiple communities—students, staff and area residents—to experience a well-used space in a new way,” said Yourick, whose 2025 sculpture, “Hometown,” is part of the Underwater Museum of Art in Grayton Beach. “The accompanying workshop offers students a hands-on opportunity to engage in collective creation, reinforcing the idea that shared effort can shape shared space.”

Yourick’s multi-disciplinary work explores placemaking and the dynamics of agency in the context of environmental and social changes. She holds an MFA in Visual Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has participated in artist residencies in South Korea, Greece, and Wisconsin.

The exhibit will remain on display through Oct. 18. Admission is free and accessible to the public during regular Holley Academic Center hours