The Light Work gallery, located at 316 Waverly Ave., will participate in the city-wide TH3 night Thursday, Nov.16, by hosting an opening reception for the new exhibition "A Day in the Life of Salem Hyde." The exhibition, on view at Community Darkrooms through Dec. 22, features images made by sixth-graders at Salem Hyde Elementary School during a photography and writing project in spring 2006. The reception will take place from 5-8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Parking is available in SU pay lots.
The opening reception marks the third time that Light Work has participated in TH3. The Connective Corridor Shuttle will be running between all TH3 venues throughout the evening. For details and shuttle schedule, visit http://www.th3syracuse.com.
Through the program, Salem Hyde students were provided with a 35mm camera and roll of black-and-white film. About 100 children were trained to be photojournalists for a day by former Fayetteville-Manlius High School photography teacher Steven Parker and local photographers Pat Orr and Chuck Wainwright. The students also learned basics of the art and science of photography during a field trip to Light Work, where they learned how to expose and develop photograms.
As part of the project, students set out to capture the spirit of their school on film. After the film was developed, each child picked the photo they believed best captured the spirit of Salem Hyde. Working with classroom teachers, each student wrote an essay about the photograph. Many of the essays reflect the school's commitment to the principles of the community of caring--caring, respect, responsibility, trust and family.
The photos and essays were displayed at Salem Hyde in June 2006. Each student received a DVD or VHS tape containing four photos by each sixth-grader as a graduation present. Salem Hyde hopes to make the project an annual event for its sixth-grade class. The program was developed by the school's Parent Teacher Organization with the support of Principal Octavia Wilcox, the sixth grade team, parent Larry Bousquet and the school community.
Also on view at Light Work at this time are the exhibitions "Perception and Deception," featuring the work of Rik Pinkcombe, and "2006 Light Work Grants," featuring the work of the winners of Light Work's 2006 grant program.
Gallery hours for "A Day in the Life of Salem Hyde" are Sunday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, call 443-1300. Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. For more information, visit http://www.lightwork.org or contact Jessica Heckman, promotions coordinator, at 443-1300 or jhheckma@syr.edu.
