by Bella Erakko
Member artist J. Barry Wright takes us to places we’d never find on our own. Rural roads seldom traveled, sites vaguely described on the internet, clues dropped by friends and co-workers guide Barry to his favorite photo venues: abandoned structures. “I always liked to read,” he explains. “History was interesting to me, and I liked to see it … for real. It’s about seeing how people lived, their pioneer spirit. It makes me wonder about the people who lived there.”
He notes that these structures are vanishing, and “mobile homes and ranch homes don’t have the character of pillars and gables.” This past year, he traveled to the Odd Fellows place in Liberty, MO near Kansas City. Several abandoned buildings inhabit this site. “They were like the Masons at the turn of the century,” he relates. “The whole campus was used to house orphans, and there was a poor house.” Today, one of the buildings has been rehabbed into a B&B and winery. The rest are nestled within a neighborhood of modern houses. Wright values natural lighting, often shooting in black and white. Clouds add interesting dimensions to abandoned buildings, sun can highlight interiors in interesting ways. But no matter the light or the structure, there is one common element in his photographs: a sense of belonging, of not being forgotten, of having value to us, even today.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, March 14 from 5 until 8:00. One of Wright's photographs will be given away in the free drawing at 6:00.
