Thursday opening reception set for Welty exhibit
A current art exhibit at Mississippi State showcases photography by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Eudora Welty while also highlighting contrasts in perspective between her work and that of other photographers documenting the South during the Great Depression.
The exhibit, "Eudora Welty in Context: Representing Race in New Deal Photography," will continue through Oct. 28 in the McComas Gallery. An opening reception is set for Thursday, Sept. 8, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
The gallery's regular hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
The Welty exhibit, presented by the MSU Department of Art, includes work by several photographers who traveled to the South, commissioned by the Works Progress Administration to document American life.
Tony Morris, visiting assistant professor of art, said that Welty, a native Mississippian who worked for the WPA, represented life in a more positive manner in her photos than did her contemporaries.
Morris, serving as the director of the MSU gallery, noted the works come from the Mississippi Museum of Art and the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center.
The exhibition is among many events focusing on Welty as part of this year's Maroon Edition project, which emphasizes a selected book for common reading and engages the campus community with a variety of discussions and activities relevant to the reading theme. Welty's "The Optimist's Daughter" is the 2011 selection.
For more information on the Maroon Edition, visit http://maroonedition.msstate.edu/.
