Gallery Talk: Art in the World: Art and Social Engagement November 2, 2005

Carleton College will present ?Art in the World: Art and Social Engagement,? a gallery talk in conjunction with the Library exhibition titled ?Portraits of Home: Families in Search of Shelter in Greater Minnesota? on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. at the Carleton College Gould Library Athenaeum. Artist Kelly Connole, photographer Carlos Gonzalez and Carleton senior Kate Strathmann will lead an informal roundtable discussion on the relationship between life and art. A reception will follow. The event is free and open to the public.

Connole, and Gonzalez will explore the questions of how documentary photography affects our understanding of our communities, of what the role of the artist is in documenting social issues and whether art can induce change. Strathmann, a studio art major, will speak about her experiences with community-based arts projects.

The ?Portraits of Home? photography exhibition presents a documentation of the housing challenges that face many of Minnesota?s working families. It depicts the impact that the deficiency in affordable housing has had on the personal lives of Minnesotans, displaying many photos of the families? struggles. Sponsored by the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, this exhibition presents the work of six photographers, portraying the poor housing conditions, the lack of a home and the management of a life with limited resources in greater Minnesota. The images aim to encourage the public to do more in helping more Minnesotans live in safe and affordable homes.

The Greater Minnesota Housing Fund currently is making the exhibition available at local communities from 2005 to 2006 in an effort to influence policymakers, local leaders, residents and to inform the population of the actions they may take to alleviate the conditions facing an increasing number of Minnesota families.

Connole is an assistant professor of art in ceramics and metals at Carleton. She received her bachelor?s of fine arts from the University of Montana, Missoula, and her master?s from San Francisco State University.

Gonzalez has been at the Star Tribune since 1998, winning regional and national awards from photographic and journalistic institutions. He was named the California Press Photographers Association College Photographer of the Year in 1998.

Strathmann has worked with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater in Minneapolis and co-lead a puppet ruckus in Northfield her sophomore year. She hopes to spend next year traveling around the world practicing community-based art.

George Slade, exhibit curator of ?Portraits of Home,? has said: ??what emerges [from the exhibition] are images of accommodation, of individuals and groups reckoning with forces that have compelled them to adopt and adapt to non- or substandard conditions for shelter. We can all recognize parts of ourselves in these images?and appreciate the subtle but critical distinctions between ?house? and ?home? that resonate in this collective portrait.?

The exhibition runs from Sept. 12 through Nov. 28. The Carleton College Gould Library is open daily. The hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to midnight. Library hours are reduced when Carleton is not in session. For more information or disability accommodations, call Margaret Pezalla-Granlund, Carleton?s curator of library art and exhibits at (507) 646-7182.