What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1448331
FEBRUARY 6-12, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 37 PRESIDENT Brent A. Powers EDITOR Becca Martin-Brown 479-872-5054 bmartin@nwadg.com Twitter: NWAbecca REPORTERS Monica Hooper mhooper@nwadg.com April Wallace awallace@nwadg.com (479) 770-3746 DESIGNER Deb Harvell ! UP WHAT'S ON THE COVER "Girlfriends" by Kinya Christian is among the artworks on show throughout Black History Month at her Into+View Gallery in Rogers. (COURTESY IMAGE/KINYA CHRISTIAN) What's Up! is a publication of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Q. Talk about the books and music you've added to the exhibition. What inspired that choice? And what do you hope they add to the viewing experience? A. The idea of how things relate or influence is the motivating factor behind the music and books from several different perspectives. … I included all three of Eugene Richards' books about Arkansas to date in the exhibition, which are: "Few Comforts Or Surprises: The Arkansas Delta" (1973), "Red Ball of a Sun Slipping Down" (2018) and "The Day I Was Born" (2020). … Knowing about Eugene Richards' work is essential for me and, I think, the state of Arkansas too. That's why I further contextualize his photographs with other photographers that made pictures in Arkansas, Geleve Grice and Mike Disfarmer, [and] another photographer from the Northwest Arkansas area, Deborah Luster. As for the music, it's the thing the images can't do — put you in this immersive sense of feeling. Some of the songs reference the title of the exhibition, "Yesterday Once More," so I included the song "Yesterday" by Big K.R.I.T., in which he speaks about the memory of his grandmother and the lessons she taught him. The song reminds me of the one grandmother I did grow up with and is still living. … Songs like "Tribute" by Robert Glasper and "How Many Years" by Yebba extend those thoughts on grief and losing someone close. My parents are no longer living, so those songs help contemplate specific experiences. My hope is for viewers … to build a space to slow down and consider, apart from all of our busy daily lives. Q. What do you hope viewers take away from seeing the exhibition? A. I'll bring up those words again — resilience, music, love, grief, and empathy. If they take away any of the terms in some form, that would mean a lot to me. I also hope they take away the fact that their community matters. Don't be afraid to get out and record the story of a family member or neighbor through images, an audio device, or music. Collect it, and pass it down. … The photos will have much more meaning or an entirely different impact in the future. Turner Continued From Page 9 Turner thought he'd be a photojournalist, until an assignment at Ohio University changed his mind. "The class assignment was to pick a location to visit for a total of ten days, gather pictures and interviews, come back and edit, write the story and then publish your magazine. Mine was titled 'Delta Journal.'" "I think the concept of owning land here in America evokes so many different realities of humanity," says Turner. "The land that our bodies occupy is essential to us all. It's a sense of self-being and self-determination that comes along with it." (Courtesy Images/Aaron R. Turner) "You remember textures, smells, the light and time of day, evenings in that same place," says Turner of his landscape photographs. "All of my senses come into play, and my desire to make images is for other people to experience the same things or be a reminder of their sense of place regarding the landscape." FEATURE