Member artist 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.
“History was interesting to me,” he explains, “and I liked to see … for real … how people lived, their pioneer spirit. It makes me wonder about the people who lived there.”
He notes that these structures are vanishing. “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.
But no matter the location or the structure, his photographs evoke a sense of belonging, of not being forgotten, of having value for us, even today.
We are proud to feature Barry's work during the month of September and with an Open House Saturday, September 12 from 1:00 until 6:00. A free drawing for one of Barry's photographs will take place at 5:30. You do not have to be present to win, just stop by the gallery anytime between 1 and 5:30 to pick up your ticket!
