Please visit Wasmer Gallery at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio to view Lydia Bailey's extraordinary photo exhibit of residents at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Shelter in Cleveland, Ohio. Plan to spend time with this exhibit. I've had the opportunity to experience this stunning exhibit a day at a time and it is deeply intimate and powerful. The stories of the men stay with you, their haunting eyes follow you, their smiles warm and reassure you. I read a different story everyday and I am touched by their resilience and their deep faith.
Last week, the gallery was packed with over 70 middle school students and teachers from Hawken School. You wouldn't believe how quiet the students were. They were very respectful as they moved through the gallery to look at the men's faces, read and write on worksheets for their assignments. One teacher said it it a powerful introduction to homelessness. When they filed out to board their buses, the children were grateful for the opportunity, said thank you and expressed that they were deeply moved.
December 19 --
Dear Lydia,
I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to share a bit with you about our recent trip to see your beautiful exhibit at Ursuline College. In the 6th grade, we do an entire community service project centered around the idea of living on minimum wage (what it feels like, is it possible?, what are the challenges, etc.) and when we saw your photography exhibit we knew we had to take our 6th graders to see it. I know Megan Saxelby and her 8th graders have worked with 2100 Lakeside as well, so the connection was already there for the kids. We began the trip by having them sit at school and answer some questions like, "What do you know about homelessness?" or "What might a homeless person look like or act like?" to get at some of their preconceptions and actively get them thinking about the subject. Then we piled in to a bus and took a trip to the gallery. While they were there, they had to flip the sheet over and answer questions like "What did you learn through reading all the stories and facts?", "What might you do differently now that you have viewed this exhibition?", and "Now that you have seen all these photographs, how has your vision of homelessness changed?"
I have to say, I would love to send you copies of these students wrote. I was moved to tears more than once at the ways your photographs helped our students to better understand what it means to be homeless. Your photographs allowed our students to truly have empathy for the men in your shelter and gave a face, humanity, to the plight of homeless in Cleveland and in the nation. For 6th graders, taking something so huge and abstract, and giving it a face, making it concrete and relatable isn't always easy. Your exhibit really helped our 65 or so students do just that. So, thank you. If you would like me to send you copies of the student work, I would love to. Sometimes it is nice to know that YOU have made a difference.
Take care,
Erin Thomas
__________________________________________________________________________________
From the 2012 press release:
"According
to Lydia Bailey, volunteer coordinator at the shelter and photographer of the
collection, “When you see the expression on a person’s face; hear the
inflection in a person’s voice; work with a person who is homeless and know
their strengths, begin to know their challenges-- you pick up on the
individual. These are individuals with concerns and hopes like yours and mine.
Through this show, I hope to convey their gifts and vital personalities as well
as the confusing, fearful and damaging elements of homelessness.”
Michael
Sering, director of housing & shelter at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry
said, “In this show we can see a powerful microcosm of humanity and society-
strength and frailty, brokenness and resilience, hope and sorrow, and indeed
potential.”
__________________________________________________________________________________
During this busy holiday season, please stop by the gallery and reflect on the men's deeply compelling life stories brought to life by Lydia's brilliant color photos.
Wasmer Gallery Hours: Tuesday thru Friday, 12 noon to 5 PM and Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 - 4:30 PM
Please note that our gallery will be closed December 22 through December 26, 2012 and December 29 through January 1, 2013.
Artfully,
Anna Arnold, Director
The Florence O'Donnell Wasmer Gallery
Ursuline College
2550 Lander Road
Pepper Pike, Ohio 44124
440-646-8121
aarnold@ursuline.edu
Powerful art exhibit about homelessness installed at Ursuline College gallery in Pepper Pike
Published: Thursday, November 08, 2012, 1:19 PM Updated: Thursday, November 08, 2012, 1:19 PM
“In these portraits of homelessness we can see a powerful microcosm of humanity and society – strength and frailty, brokenness and resilience, hope and sorrow, and indeed potential,” Michael Sering, Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Shelter Director, said.
Sering is talking about Lydia Bailey’s photography exhibition “Portraits of Homelessness” at the Ursuline College Wasmer Gallery.
“It has helped the shelter by making people from all walks of life aware of Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, the shelter and the issues. It has raised awareness that there are people here from all walks of life,” Sering said.
Bailey’s exhibit is now on display at the Wasmer Galley until Jan. 4, 2013.
Walking through the 45-piece exhibition is not comforting, in a good way.
The men at Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Shelter, a men’s facility in Cleveland, are from different employment, ethnicity, religious and educational backgrounds. They break the stereotypes often associated with homelessness – addict, uneducated, junkie, lazy.
“‘Portraits of Homelessness’ is about growing awareness, to see the individuals involved in homelessness, beyond the stereotypes,” Bailey, photographer and shelter volunteer coordinator, said.
The scope of homelessness in this region is huge, Bailey said. In 2011, 3,900 unduplicated men stayed at the shelter. This year the shelter predicts having 4,500 men total going through. These numbers do not include women and children.
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Shelter resident photographed by Lydia Bailey for "Portraits of Homelessness" at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike.
Below the photo reads a quote from shelter director Michael Sering.
“All of us have this persona we put on—but at the shelter, the men especially have to put on a persona, a tough exterior; careful in what they disclose,” Bailey said.
“What I gained through listening to the men and writing their stories for the exhibit is a depth of understanding the humanity of the individuals—their gifts and vital personalities as well as the pathos—the confusing, fearful, hopeless elements of life that we all experience to some extent—but there is nothing quite so terrible as homelessness.”
Bailey’s exhibit has resulted in new volunteers and donations for the shelter, Sering said. As well as increased compassion, he continued.
There is a duplicate “Portraits of Homelessness” permanent exhibition at the shelter.
“It sets a tone of dignity, respect, hardship and gifts – to both visitors and residents. It has meant a lot to the guys at the shelter. Some are excited to have their picture and story displayed. Others are glad to speak at forums – to share their story which is important, but also to be a piece of larger story about homelessness.”
Find more information about Bailey’s exhibit at www.ursuline.edu.
Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry Shelter Headquarters are at 4515 Superior Ave., Cleveland.The shelter is located at 2100 Lakeside.
See more Pepper Pike news at cleveland.com/chagrin-valley.
216-986-5472
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