Art exhibition to showcase 'Urban Landscapes'

Photographs taken by Hayward and San Lorenzo high school students will be on display until Dec. 6

Jack Barnwell
Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: The Scene

"Get out now," wrote famed photographer John Stilgoe in his book Outside Lies Magic.

Those words were the idealogy behind a summer's worth of photographs depicting urban elements, set to make its Chabot debut tonight in the college art gallery in Room 1002.

The exhibition, entitled "Urban Landscapes," features work done by students from Hayward and San Leandro high schools over this past summer.

Scenes as varied as a broken Miller beer bottle, a graffiti-canvassed wall, and a sun-lit park stairway are just a few of the images on display.

The project, part of a statewide program, is funded and sponsored by the California Council for the Humanities.

The organization gave Hayward and San Leandro Libraries $1,000 in grants.

On top of the grants Canon PowerShot digital cameras and digital printers allow 20 students to photograph various subjects.

Marcess Owings is one of two Chabot student curators who will be coordinating the show, along with Lacy Kuhlmann.

"Teens then participated in a photography project investigating the idea that taking time to notice things we normally take for granted can bring unexpected gifts of beauty and grace," said Owings of the project.

Both curators have successfully managed an exhibition earlier in the semester, featuring work by Chabot instructor Skip Esquierdo.

Chabot art history instructor Diane Zuliani expressed her own enthusiasm about the event in an e-mail interview Monday, Nov. 3.

"These pictures were taken to reflect what students learned from their reading of the book Outside Lies Magic by John Stilgoe," Zuliani said.

Stilgoe, a famed photographer, advocated slowing down and taking a deeper look at surroundings people normally overlook or take for granted.

Zuliani is currently on leave, but will be on campus this evening for the opening reception and gala.

"These young people went out with their cameras to find and photograph the small, magical scenes we often overlook in our urban environment," Zuliani added.

"In the process, they came away with a deeper appreciation for the urban landscape around them."

Owings, the student curator and a photographer, expressed a similar thought.

"I hope that working to discover the unnoticed objects of our human-built environment helped to open these artists' eyes to their surroundings and helped them discover something deeper about themselves," Owings said of the project.

The students who participated in summer project will also be in attendance to discuss their own thoughts on the work that went into producing the photos.

"In that these young people are future Chabot students, I believe what they have to say will be of great interest to the Chabot community," Zuliani said.

The exhibition will run from Nov. 6 through Dec. 16 in Room 1002. The doors for tonight's reception will open at 6 p.m.

It is open to the public, but the campus parking fee of $2 will be enforced for those without a parking permit.

"There's some potential in this group of young adults and I hope they realize their talents enough to pursue and refine them," Owings added.

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