MONROE - The Monroe Art Center kicks off its 35th anniversary season from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, with two gallery exhibits.
The Frehner Gallery will present "Chicago's Underside: Photographs from the Calumet Region" by Chicago photographer Gary Cialdella. Simultaneously, MAC will once again host the 21st annual Photography Contest and Exhibit. This year's Photography Contest and Exhibit have topped more than 40 non-professional artists and photographers slated to show their work.
Cialdella's exhibit is an outgrowth of his recently published book titled "The Calumet Region: An American Place/Photographs." Cialdella was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Blue Island, Ill. Once a dominant region for steel production and oil refining, the Calumet Region has been described as a complex place. This area, which includes south Chicago and Northwest Indiana, is intertwined with numerous communities and industries bordering the natural setting of Lake Michigan. The lake's expanse is both the actual and symbolic antidote to this aging industrial landscape, and the photographs address the drama and contrast of the region, the use and misuse of land, and the working class neighborhoods of these older communities.
"Ordinary places are important and worthy of our serious attention," Cialdella said. "The first impression you have in these neighborhoods is one of sameness. It appears that there is little to distinguish one house from another. One could say the same about a crowd of people. I photograph homes straight on, facing them as I might a person whose eyes are looking directly back at me. Objects seen in this way emphasize their particularity."
Cialdella works as a photographer in the social landscape tradition, a professional architectural photographer, and an educator. He earned his MFA from the University of Notre Dame and holds an MFA in history from Western Michigan University. He chaired the photography program at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts from 1977 to 1984 and has taught photography and photographic history at various universities, including Western Michigan University and the University of Notre Dame. His work has been represented in the Museum of Contemporary Photography's Midwest Photographers Archive and is included in many corporate and private collections, such as the LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Brauer Museum of Art.
An opening reception for both exhibits is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, in the MAC Frehner Gallery. At 5:30 p.m. Cialdella will speak briefly about his photographs, and at 6 p.m. he will critique the photography contest and announce the winners. He will also lead a round-table discussion on photography at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4.
These events are free and open to the public.
This exhibit has been made possible by Monroe Arts Center corporate underwriter-Colony Brands Inc. and season media underwriters Monroe Publishing, LLC and Big Radio, with additional support from Michael and Shelley Muranyi; Pete Guenther and Barb Woodriff; and Lee and Chris Knuteson.
The Frehner Gallery will present "Chicago's Underside: Photographs from the Calumet Region" by Chicago photographer Gary Cialdella. Simultaneously, MAC will once again host the 21st annual Photography Contest and Exhibit. This year's Photography Contest and Exhibit have topped more than 40 non-professional artists and photographers slated to show their work.
Cialdella's exhibit is an outgrowth of his recently published book titled "The Calumet Region: An American Place/Photographs." Cialdella was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Blue Island, Ill. Once a dominant region for steel production and oil refining, the Calumet Region has been described as a complex place. This area, which includes south Chicago and Northwest Indiana, is intertwined with numerous communities and industries bordering the natural setting of Lake Michigan. The lake's expanse is both the actual and symbolic antidote to this aging industrial landscape, and the photographs address the drama and contrast of the region, the use and misuse of land, and the working class neighborhoods of these older communities.
"Ordinary places are important and worthy of our serious attention," Cialdella said. "The first impression you have in these neighborhoods is one of sameness. It appears that there is little to distinguish one house from another. One could say the same about a crowd of people. I photograph homes straight on, facing them as I might a person whose eyes are looking directly back at me. Objects seen in this way emphasize their particularity."
Cialdella works as a photographer in the social landscape tradition, a professional architectural photographer, and an educator. He earned his MFA from the University of Notre Dame and holds an MFA in history from Western Michigan University. He chaired the photography program at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts from 1977 to 1984 and has taught photography and photographic history at various universities, including Western Michigan University and the University of Notre Dame. His work has been represented in the Museum of Contemporary Photography's Midwest Photographers Archive and is included in many corporate and private collections, such as the LaSalle Bank Photography Collection, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and the Brauer Museum of Art.
An opening reception for both exhibits is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, in the MAC Frehner Gallery. At 5:30 p.m. Cialdella will speak briefly about his photographs, and at 6 p.m. he will critique the photography contest and announce the winners. He will also lead a round-table discussion on photography at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4.
These events are free and open to the public.
This exhibit has been made possible by Monroe Arts Center corporate underwriter-Colony Brands Inc. and season media underwriters Monroe Publishing, LLC and Big Radio, with additional support from Michael and Shelley Muranyi; Pete Guenther and Barb Woodriff; and Lee and Chris Knuteson.