The University of the Pacific launched Intoxic: Drugs & Culture at its Reynolds Gallery on October 13, 2026, presenting an interdisciplinary health and humanities project that traces humanity’s longstanding engagement with materials that modify consciousness. According to the university’s event description, the exhibition addresses three core areas of substance use, including roles in community relationships, pursuits of relief from physical or mental conditions and pathways to transformative or spiritual encounters. The display notes that the original meaning of intoxicate referred to poisoning while highlighting how perceptions of such substances have shifted across eras, locations and contexts.
Twenty faculty members and 18 students contributed research to the exhibition, the University of the Pacific said. The show incorporates pieces by New York artist Bev Fishman together with selected artworks and artifacts from the university’s permanent collection. This combination creates a multifaceted presentation that spans visual art, scholarly inquiry and experiential components.
Visitors encounter music, narrative recordings and augmented reality installations that enhance engagement with the displayed themes, according to the gallery’s overview. A performance featuring composition students and the percussion ensemble occurred on October 20, one week after the opening. The exhibition’s public reception is set for October 22 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the gallery on the Stockton campus.
The University of the Pacific has scheduled the exhibition to run through November 20, with the Reynolds Gallery accessible Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tours can be arranged upon request for those seeking additional context on the displayed research and artworks. The venue forms part of the Jeannette Powell Art Center and regularly features rotating shows that blend student, faculty and professional contributions.
Comparable projects have appeared at other institutions in recent years, a 2024 press release from the Sainsbury Centre in the United Kingdom stated. That center’s Why Do We Take Drugs? season cited Office for National Statistics figures indicating around 10 percent of people aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales reported illegal drug use in the year ending March 2023. Such programming reflects continued academic and artistic interest in the cultural, medical and social dimensions of intoxicants across global contexts.
The Reynolds Gallery functions as the central exhibition space for art and design at the University of the Pacific, its official description indicated. It seeks to build visual literacy and cultural understanding by presenting diverse practices and media to campus and community audiences. Earlier displays have drawn from significant gifts, including the Robert and Jeannette Powell collection of modern and contemporary works now distributed across the university’s campuses.
