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May Issue 2009
Winthrop University
in Rock Hill, SC, Offers Exhibitions Which Focus on Homelessness
Winthrop University Galleries at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, is presenting several exhibits which focus on homelessness including: Voices of Homelessness, the 21st Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition, on view in the Rutledge Gallery through June 18, 2009 and Losing the Human Race: The Humanity of Homelessness God City Artists, on view in the Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick Gallery through June 18, 2009. These exhibitions help put a human face on homelessness.
The idea for this project emerged from a conversation between a Winthrop faculty member and United Way's Debbie Hayworth. "With the introduction and implementation of Pathways to Housing, York County's comprehensive response and plan to homelessness, we accepted the challenge to put a human face on homelessness," said Tom Stanley, chair of the Department of Fine Arts.
Throughout the past year, Winthrop student-artists and faculty have worked with area agencies such as the United Way, Pilgrims Inn, A Place for Hope and the Salvation Army to raise awareness about this silent population through art and design. The program has the support of the Artists and Civic Engagement (ACE) Projects, which is an effort to encourage community art in downtown Rock Hill, Clinton Junior College and Winthrop.
Antoine Williams
The 21st Annual Undergraduate Juried Exhibition titled, Voices of Homelessness, showcases the undergraduate worked based on this theme. Jurors for the exhibition were Lora Holliday, project director for the United Way of York County, and Allie Farlowe, assistant curator from the Mint Museum of Craft + Design in Charlotte, NC.
The exhibit, Losing the Human Race: The Humanity of Homelessness God City Artists, is an exploratory view into the two worlds that exist in our society: one of the homeless and the other of those of us who choose to forget the people we could easily become or once were. The artwork in this show is an account of the fragile balance that many of us take for granted in the materialistic society we call America.
Dustin Shores
Photography students, Dustin Shores and Jake Francek, have been active participants in this project. Francek believes the Voices of Homelessness project has given him confidence to deviate from the standard practice of creating art for himself and use his photography to promote a cause. He states, "It has made me realize the potential Winthrop students have to make a difference. We don't have to travel to big cities to make an impact with our art; we can create outstanding bodies of work at home, just by getting involved."
Working with children from the Blackmon Road community at a Place for Hope, Dustin Shores feels this project has been "the greatest and most rewarding he has had the privilege to work on". He hopes to continue working with A Place for Hope after graduation this spring. Shore feels, "art has the ability to change situations and attitudes, and it is my responsibility as an artist to do so."
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call Tom Stanley
at 803/323-2493 or visit (www.winthrop.edu/arts).
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