
{"id":24107,"date":"2012-03-01T10:03:39","date_gmt":"2012-03-01T15:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=24107"},"modified":"2012-02-29T16:26:22","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T21:26:22","slug":"photography-exhibit-explores-spirit-of-carrboro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/03\/01\/photography-exhibit-explores-spirit-of-carrboro\/","title":{"rendered":"Photography exhibit explores spirit of Carrboro"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_24123\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-24123\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2012\/03\/01\/photography-exhibit-explores-spirit-of-carrboro\/photoexhibit030112_web\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24123\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/PhotoExhibit030112_web.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"PhotoExhibit030112_web\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" class=\"size-full wp-image-24123\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/PhotoExhibit030112_web.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/PhotoExhibit030112_web-113x75.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/PhotoExhibit030112_web-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/PhotoExhibit030112_web-100x66.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/PhotoExhibit030112_web-360x239.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-24123\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Betsy Armstrong, McDougle Middle School&#039;s media assistant, stands by one of her favorite photographs of the &quot;In the Spirit&quot; exhibit. The photo, taken by David Otto, features the McDougle marching band at the Christmas parade. She says the pictures with large groups of people speak to her, because they express the true spirit of Carrboro. Photo by Kaelyn Malkoski<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><\/br><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Kaelyn Malkoski<\/strong><br \/>\nCourtesy of the <em>Carrboro Commons<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It all stems from a simple question: What moves you?<\/p>\n<p>To many, the answer is spiritual \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a homily, a hymnal, a call to prayer. But is spiritual expression confined to religion?<\/p>\n<p>To Nerys Levy, chair of the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library Art Committee, the answer is no.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What deeply moves the local community?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Carrboro resident asks. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The answer comes from people; what they do, poignant moments in their lives, what moves their spirits.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>A Christmas parade, a Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally, a Habitat for Humanity project, the Occupy Carrboro movement can all stir one\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spirit, says Levy, a native of North Wales. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a beautiful balance of religious and secular activities, she continues.<\/p>\n<p>Photographer David Otto agrees.<\/p>\n<p>After Levy approached him last summer to pioneer an art exhibition on spiritual gatherings, the two knew they had to redefine the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spiritual\u00e2\u20ac\u009d if they were going to truly tap into the human emotion of Carrboro.<\/p>\n<p>Otto, a 16-year Carrboro resident, was at a camera club meeting recruiting volunteers to help with the exhibit when he had an epiphany.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was a divine sort of intervention, if you will,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcHow about in the spirit?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>His sudden realization redirected the project, lured photographer Sheldon Becker to join the exhibit and provided the title for the exhibit, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the Spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Otto, Becker, Levy and Carrboro Branch Library\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s art committee, which decides the theme of the art exhibitions at the library, started work on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In the Spirit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in June 2011.<\/p>\n<p>Funded by the Orange County Arts Commission and the Friends of the Carrboro Branch Library Art Committee, the show provides high impact at a low cost, Levy says, with all of the photos printed at Costco and Staples.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We wanted to make a statement to the community about the power of people through images,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Levy. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can document something and show it without masses of money.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The exhibit, which opened on Jan. 20, is displayed at the Carrboro Branch Library \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which also serves as the McDougle Media Center \u00e2\u20ac\u201c on Old Fayetteville Road.<\/p>\n<p>Inside the library, intimate photographs reminiscent of National Geographic line the perimeter of the room. Most feature groups of people and organizations throughout the community, including the St. Joseph Foundation\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Hayti Heritage Center and North Carolina Arts in Action workshops.<\/p>\n<p>Otto\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s favorite picture, however, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feature a single face. The picture, named \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Eid Prayer Ending Ramadan,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d shows a group of bodies hunched over performing a Muslim prayer.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It catches a group of people doing something together \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s community, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spirit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Otto.<\/p>\n<p>Betsy Armstrong, McDougle Middle School\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s media assistant, says her favorite photographs are those featuring large groups of people. The library has displayed photo exhibits since the media center opened, but Armstrong says this is her favorite.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always had local artists, but this is different because the subject matter is local,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong, who has worked for the shared library for 11 years, says the library hosts about six exhibits every year. Levy adds that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153every child who has been through middle and elementary school has had a proper art exhibit to look at.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<br \/>\nThe exhibit, which has been successful, ends March 12.<\/p>\n<p>But Levy, who works at FRANK on Franklin Street, says she hopes the artwork will also be showcased at local art galleries, religious organizations and college campuses, like UNC. <\/p>\n<p>Carrboro Branch librarian Anne Pusey says the community-centered exhibit engages local children, who can visit the exhibit and pick out people they recognize from the photographs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard not to recognize a familiar face or place,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d says Pusey.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Everyone shares the Carrboro spirit.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Levy says the next show will keep with the theme by exploring outer space, or what she calls the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153spiritual space above us.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The exhibition, set to start in April, includes paintings by McDougle students and a scheduled rocket launch on May 7.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We want to showcase the universe that exists above Carrboro.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><em>Kaelyn Malkoski is a UNC student writing for the Carrboro Commons, a bi-weekly online lab newspaper for Jock Lauterer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Community Journalism class at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It all stems from a simple question: What moves you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":24123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24107"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24130,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24107\/revisions\/24130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}