The Cope House Gallery
Current Exhibition
The Places we Carry
Pragya Gupta
On View
March 3rd – April 28th, 2026
Gallery Talk: March 15th | 2-4 PM
Opening Reception March 15th | 4-6 PM
In her current series, The Places We Carry: a Search for Identity, Pragya Gupta explores what it means to hold multiple, often contradictory identities at once. Her paintings investigate this through fragmented figures, overlapping spaces, and layers that accumulate like memory—some marks visible, others buried, all of them present.
Pragya rarely knows what a painting will look like when she begins, but she has clarity about the emotion or question driving it. She juxtaposes mathematical elements, grids, and circles with intuitive marks, using slightly awkward tools like palette knives and large brushes, honoring and integrating both the structured and the creative without repressing either.
Having grown up in a culture where creative inclinations were taboo, each painting is for Pragya an act of affirmation — a way of asserting to herself that creating art is not shameful, but something primal and inherently spiritual. Ultimately, she hopes her work leaves viewers with ambiguity and space to engage with their own simultaneous truths and the complexities they navigate.
About the Artist:
Pragya Gupta (b. 1986, Patiala, India) grew up without access to the arts and never stepped into an art museum until she was 29. Now based in Philadelphia, the Wharton grad and former finance professional creates paintings that explore what it means to uproot and rebuild as an outsider perpetually, navigating cultural norms of performative success and diasporic identity. Her art asks: Is it even possible to unmask and feel with certainty, “this is who I am”?
Her journey took her from India to Philadelphia, then to London for a career in finance. Everything shifted during a visit to the National Gallery in London—standing before the paintings, she felt a primal yearning to paint. She left finance knowing it meant leaving behind everything she had known: the values and expectations of her family in India, and the version of herself she’d spent years building.
Pragya studied at The Art Students League of New York, NYC Crit Club, and Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She has exhibited widely, including at Bristol Art Museum (RI), Waterworks Art Museum (MT), Lloydminster Museum (SK, Canada), San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art (CA), and Customs House Museum (TN).
The Cope House Art Gallery at Awbury Arboretum presents rotating exhibitions by local artists year-round. The gallery offers visitors a way to engage with art, history, and the natural landscape in one setting.
By partnering with local artists, Awbury is able to present free art shows March through December every year. As an exhibition space where beautiful and thought-provoking art is displayed, the Cope House Gallery is a valuable resource for both local artists and art lovers. Admission is free. Artwork is available for purchase, with a portion of proceeds supporting the Arboretum’s programs.
The Cope House Gallery Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 10am – 4pm.
Friday-Sunday: By appointment only.
Hours are subject to change due to rentals & events.
(Please see our Hours and Admission page for holiday closings, etc.)
Are you a local artist interested in featuring your artwork at Awbury?
Questions? Please contact our Arts Advisory Committee at artcommittee@awbury.org.