August 24 – September 29, 2017
Wed., Sept. 6 – Public lecture by Kathryn Mayo, 205 Gorgas Library, 7:00 p.m.
Thurs., Sept. 7 – reception in the gallery, 103 Garland Hall, 5:00-7:00 p.m.
The University of Alabama Department of Art and Art History is pleased to present the exhibition, We are Selma: The Selma Portrait Project by Kathryn Mayo, August 24-September 29, 2017, in the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art. The public is invited to two events: a lecture by the artist on Wednesday, September 6 at 7 pm in 205 Gorgas Library, and a reception on Thursday, September 7 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the gallery.
Department of Art and Art History alumna Kathryn Mayo, a native of Selma, Alabama, decided to return to home for her sabbatical leave from Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, California, where she serves as professor of photography. In Selma, she set up a makeshift studio and began creating large 11 x 14-inch wet plate collodion portraits of the town’s residents and recording interviews with her subjects. The exhibition beautifully reflects each sitter and his or her attachment to the city with such a storied history.
Mayo writes: “Selmians live with the ghosts of their past in a way that not many people have to. There are not many places like Selma–places that have lived to see a Civil War battle and a Civil Rights battle. Not many places that have to carry those ghosts with them each day. Part of this project was taking a look at the remnants of what such a storied history can leave behind and to investigate how those wounds do heal over time and how they affect the people that are still there.” (from the artist’s blog)
Image credit: Kathryn Mayo, “Afriye Wekandodis, 61,” wet collodion ambrotype, 11 X 14 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
The Sarah Moody Gallery of Art is supported by the UA College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Art and Art History. Admission to the gallery is free. Hours are Monday through Friday 9:00 – 4:30 p.m., Thursday evenings: 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. The gallery is located at 103 Garland Hall in the heart of the UA campus on Woods Quad.
PARKING: Information about visitor parking is available here: http://bamaparking.ua.edu/visitor-information/. Parking is free on campus in a legal space after business hours.
For more information, contact the gallery at (205) 348-1891 or go to https://art.ua.edu/gallery/smga/. Read this news release online: https://art.ua.edu/news/we-are-selma-the-selma-portrait-project-by-kathryn-mayo/.
