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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- June 6, 2008
CONTACT: Scott Hirko, Public Relations Officer,
shirko [at] mihumanities.org, 517-372-0029 ext. 25

or Paul Stermer, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, 269-349-7775 ext 3112, paul_s@kiarts.org                      

(KALAMAZOO)-----The Michigan Humanities Council today awarded a $8,050 grant to the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts for the project, Perspectives On Place. The grant is part of the Council’s Michigan People, Michigan Places … Our Stories, Our Livesprogram, which supports community collaboration for public humanities programs. The grant was presented at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. The event included comments from the office of U.S. Representative Fred Upton.

"The Perspectives on Place project is designed to help the public gain a better understanding of Michigan history through the lens of artistic expression," said Jan Fedewa, executive director of the Michigan Humanities Council. "The Council is pleased to support this educational experience through lectures, the spoken word, and music."

The grant will support a comparison between two exhibits at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts that will help explore the impact of deindustrialization on Midwest communities.  The two exhibits are Corporate Wasteland: Photographs by David Lewis (May 31 – July 26, 2008) and Perspectives on Place: Artists’ Visions of Michigan’s Land and Lakes (June 6 – September 6, 2008).  Corporate Wasteland brings together images of industrial ruins and the words of displaced industrial workers. It tells the stories of the shutdowns of factories, mills, mines and other industrial facilities throughout the United States and Canada, including the Allied Paper Mill in Kalamazoo. Perspectives on Place is drawn from the KIA permanent collection and private collections of paintings, prints, photographs and drawings which offer visual artists’ perspectives of Michigan.

The project features additional opportunities for the public to better understand deindustrialization through interactive activities using the artwork.  Interpretive programming will be included through lectures exploring artistic interpretation with art history, Michigan history and culture, and oral histories; an overview of an art movement that featured Michigan landscape artists; and, presentations exploring how old photographs can guide the study of Michigan history. Docents will lead tours, there will be a spoken word event examining what it means to be a Michigan resident, and there will be children-focused sing-a-longs and displays.

Perspectives on Place and Corporate Wasteland are free of charge and open during the KIA’s normal gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. (The KIA will be closed on Sundays from July 6 to August 31.)  More information about the exhibits and their public humanities programs is available at www.kiarts.org or by calling the KIA at (269) 349-7775.

The Michigan Humanities Council, founded in 1974, is the state’s independent, non-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For additional information on the Michigan Humanities Council, please visit: www.michiganhumanities.org or call 517-372-7770.
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