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| Photographs of Northern Iowa by Minnesota Photographer Jon Morris titled Prairie Visions. The exhibition coincides with the release of a book published by The Iowan Books of the same title which couples writings of Hamlin Garland with images by Morris. LINK TO IMAGES |
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This exhibition is the culmination of a multi-year project exploring Mitchell County, Iowa through photography and the words of Hamlin Garland. Garland is a Pulitzer Prize winning author who in 1870 as a 10-year old boy moved to Mitchell County with his family in the first wave of European settlement of that prairie. At age 10 Garland himself drove a team of oxen to till the land of the new family farm for the first time ever. The experiences of this adventure shaped and defined Garland and informed much of his writing in the years to come. In 1888, Garland penned a series of articles for American Magazine about his boyhood experiences in Mitchell County; Prairie Visions reprints these articles for the first time since the original publication. |
| The photos in the exhibition and book explore the beauty and wonder of Mitchell County Iowa through a complete cycle of seasons. Both Garland in words and Morris in images explore the dichotomies of stark and harsh versus wonder and beauty. What might seem bleak and ordinary at first glance often reveals beauty and magnificence upon closer inspection. This search and discovery of the deeper beauty resonates in the exhibit and book: viewers of the exhibit will likely find a new appreciation of the sublime nature of the Iowa landscape. |
| In describing the project, Morris says, Iowa does not scream its beauty, it whispers it. You may not see if from the window of a speeding car but the beauty is there, lurking everywhere. In the misty mornings. And the frosty autumns. In the vast plains and broad horizons covered by endless sky. The beauty of Iowa knows no bounds, but it does help to slow down a bit and take a careful look, or you risk missing another glimpse of wonder and beauty. LINK TO IMAGES |
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| The project is a collaboration between Morris, Keith Newlin, Professor of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, and Kurt Meyer, an independent Garland Scholar based in Mitchell County. Newlin is the editor of Prairie Visions and Meyer wrote the Foreword. |
Signed books will be available at the Gallery throughout the exhibition. All Images in the exhibition are available for sale as signed prints. |
OPENS January 30, 6-9PM ---- Show continues through April 30, 2016 |
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