Architecture operates as a fundamentally collaborative art form, situated within a complex and layered cultural matrix. It exemplifies the regenerative capacity of human ingenuity, with historic structures functioning as palimpsests that bear the accumulated traces of centuries of use, adaptation, and interpretation. A building cannot be divorced from its setting: its legacy is expanded through historical narratives, theological discourse, and enriched by the accounts of those who have encountered it.  

 Through her drawings, Mary Griep illustrates that culture is not frozen in time. With each age, there is the ongoing process of selective inheritance, modification, and reuse of elements to suit the present needs. Chartres Cathedral serves as a nexus of architectural and cultural influences that both predate and converge within it. It offers an opportunity to celebrate local specificity while revealing the disparate conversations that connect cultures across time and physical distance. In this context, architecture emerges as a critical framework through which to examine questions of aesthetics, ownership, continuity, power, and disruption. 

On view: Feb. 10 - May 22, 2026