The Mezzanine Gallery presents Christopher L. Starr’s “For Granted”

A solo exhibition of photography that finds clarity, meaning, and visual order in the everyday built environment.

Wilmington, Del. (February 3, 2026) – The Delaware Division of the Arts’ Mezzanine Gallery is pleased to present For Granted, a solo exhibition of new work by Christopher L. Starr. The exhibition will be on view from February 6-27, 2026, with an opening reception on Friday, February 6, from 5:00–7:00 p.m. in the Mezzanine Gallery, located in the Carvel State Office Building at 820 N. French Street in Wilmington.

In For Granted, Starr turns his attention to the everyday scenes we often pass without notice – reframing them with visual clarity, color, and a quiet sense of humor. The series invites viewers to linger with the familiar and reconsider what “ordinary” can hold when given weight, intention, and a careful eye for composition.

Anchored in Delaware and attentive to the visual noise of the built environment, For Granted finds meaning in the human-made details that shape daily life, then edits that “chaos” into clean, eye-catching compositions. Starr describes the series as an effort to give added weight and substance to scenes many people overlook, with moments of humor and images designed to prompt a second look. Color is central to the collection’s impact, and his recent work increasingly treats the arrangement of color as the primary compositional engine, informed in part by the influence of American photographers, Joel Sternfeld, Saul Leiter, and William Eggleston.

Starr’s relationship with photography began in 1984 at Wilmington College, where an unexpected course set him on a decades-long path of learning and experimentation. Over time, he honed his craft through steady practice – training his eye through repeated work and sustained observation. A significant chapter of that development unfolded at Mt. Cuba Center, where the gardens served as an early creative laboratory and the encouragement he received helped shape his confidence and direction.

In the mid-2000s, Starr pivoted away from macro-focused garden photography and began pursuing work rooted in place, memory, and the lived environment – drawing creative energy from family life, travel, and a renewed commitment to photographing Delaware. While much of his earlier work centered on black-and-white imagery, his recent practice has shifted decisively into color, where the arrangement and interplay of color often carries as much meaning as subject matter.

The Mezzanine Gallery is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free.

About the Artist

Christopher L. Starr is a Delaware-based photographer whose practice began in 1984 while studying at Wilmington College, where an unexpected audiovisual course sparked a lifelong pursuit of image-making. Through years of disciplined experimentation – learning by doing, refining his technical approach, and “training” his eye – Starr developed his voice while working at Mt. Cuba Center, where the gardens and quiet moments became a formative creative laboratory, supported and encouraged by Mrs. Copeland. In the mid-2000s, he shifted away from macro work and toward a more expansive, place-driven approach shaped by family, travel, and a renewed commitment to photographing Delaware itself. Today, his work continues to evolve into a vibrant color-forward palette, emphasizing the arrangement and interplay of color as much as subject—an ongoing exploration he is now sharing more publicly.

About the Mezzanine Gallery

The Mezzanine Gallery, located on the second floor of the Carvel State Office Building (820 N. French Street, Wilmington, DE), is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The gallery highlights the work of Delaware’s Individual Artist Fellows, showcasing a diverse range of artistic talent throughout the year. For more information, visit https://arts.delaware.gov/mezzanine-gallery.

Images in the banner: “Country Fresh” (2025), photograph, 1080×692. “Power Pass” (2023), photograph, 6.833”x4.31”. “Union Street 1” (2024), photograph, 1080×682.

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Contact: Andrew Truscott, Program Officer, Marketing and Communications

302-577-8280, andrew.truscott@delaware.gov

About the Delaware Division of the Arts
The Delaware Division of the Arts is an agency of the State of Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Funding for Division programs is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. For more information about the Delaware Division of the Arts, visit arts.delaware.gov or call 302-577-8278.