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Project depicts diverse life, people of S.C. by Mary Helen Yarborough Public Relations A unique and insightful display of photographic art depicting South Carolinians in their daily lives will be on display at MUSC’s Education Center/Library Building beginning March 21.   One of the many photographs depicting life across South Carolina that will be on display in the MUSC Library. Called the Palmetto Portraits Project (PPP), the display will feature 60 portraits from six photographers who have captured the diversity of the people who rely on MUSC for medical research, clinical service and care.   The first of a five-year series that will feature emerging artists, the project is a collaboration between MUSC, the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at the College of Charleston, and the S.C. State Museum. The display will first be presented to MUSC students at the Education Center/Library during a luncheon from noon to 1 p.m. March 21 where students also can meet the photographers. Later that day, the public is invited to view the exhibit from 5 to 7 p.m. during a reception at the Education Center/Library.   Jack Alterman The photographers, Jack Alterman, Jon Holloway, Phil Moody, Mark Sloan, Nancy Santos and Michelle Van Parys, were asked to focus on portraying South Carolinians in the Lowcountry, the Piedmont, and the Upstate—reflecting the full range and diversity of the state’s citizens, occupations, and recreational activities.   Jon Holloway In creating a collection of art to display within MUSC’s educational and clinical buildings, the university hopes to remind students, faculty, staff, and visitors of those they serve at MUSC and throughout South Carolina. MUSC and the selected photographers will broaden the impact of the photographs by donating an identical set of photographs to the permanent collection of the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia.   Phil Moody “There are many different components of the project, each serving different needs and wishes,” said Sloan, director of the Halsey Institute and one of the inaugural photographers. The Halsey Institute also is serving as the arts manager of the project.   “One of the needs is that this provides original artwork for MUSC’s clinical and educational buildings. The photographs provide something interesting for students, faculty, staff, patients and the public to see,” Sloan said. “As a commissioned project, the six photographers have depicted lives of South Carolinians at home, work and play. It was (MUSC president, M.D., Ph.D.) Ray Greenberg’s intent that these images would fill the buildings of MUSC to remind employees of the people they serve.”   Mark Sloan In addition, the project reflects the historical precedence established in the Farm Security Administration (FSA) under the Franklin Roosevelt years in the 1930s. Under the FSA, photographers were sent out to document farmers working under the difficult conditions of the Dust Bowl. The Works Progress Administration (WPA) also was a government-sponsored program in which photographs depicted people who were deemed overlooked in society, Sloan said.   Nancy Santos Meanwhile, in Columbia, the works owned by MUSC will be displayed at the state museum. The additional display helps broaden the accessibility of a project borne and supported by MUSC and its associates.   Paul Matheny, the S.C. Museum’s chief curator of art who will manage the collection in Columbia, said that the project fits the state museum’s mission on several levels, and will add significantly to its collection as it overlaps with the Art and History departments within the museum. Matheny said that the project would be an interesting contrast to the museum’s collection of WPA photographs.   Michelle Van Parys “This is an incredible project and I am glad that the museum has been asked to be involved with it,” Matheny said. “It seems like we often take for granted the lives and images of individuals, and their stories that make our statewide community and its history. This type of project captures and reflects the humanity of the population, who the individuals are and at times their role in the community.”   Matheny said that when the museum was first approached by MUSC about the project, “I was excited to hear what Leah Greenberg (wife of the MUSC president) had to say [about the project].   “Initially the project reminded me of the Works Progress Administration and the ideas behind the Farm Securities Administration photographs,” Matheny said. “By involving these important contemporary photographers who have been in South Carolina for an extended period of time, the images capture a personal, broader and interesting perspective within our rapidly evolving community. These images capture a segment of time, focusing on individuals in the state, and through the generous gift of MUSC through donating a set of the original photographs to the museum they will be preserved for many generations in the future. We look forward to continue being a part of this project, and exhibiting these photographs at the museum when the project comes to a completion.”   One of the many photographs depicting life across South Carolina that will be on display in the MUSC Library. Sloan is a member of the PPP committee, which is an off-shoot of the MUSC Art Committee. The committee also includes photographers Van Parys and Alterman, as well as Leah Greenberg and Leslie Kendall, director of Research Operations Administration. The three photographers selected the other three photographers, Holloway, Santos and Moody, who will also help select the next set of photographers for next year. Ultimately, 30, or six new photographers each year, will be selected to contribute to the five-year project. These photographers are selected based on their extraordinary talent representing promising photographers from across the state. The project will result in 300 photographs for display that will become part of a growing original art collection for MUSC. This collection will be displayed throughout campus wherever there is interest and an appropriate environment, including the new hospital.   One of the many photographs depicting life across South Carolina that will be on display in the MUSC Library. To have been selected among the multitude of talented photographers across South Carolina for this project was a significant milestone, said Santos, an award-winning photographer and New York native.   “I have won several Association of Alternative Weeklies awards, as well as a few Addys and two South Carolina Press Association awards,” said Santos. “Being chosen to participate in the Palmetto Portraits Project is the highest honor I have ever received for my photography.”   Sloan said the photographers were those who could consistently produce good works that do more than illustrate.   “We wanted to find photographers who could provide a compelling environmental portrait that is revealing and communicates who that person is,” Sloan said. He said that the project is a great opportunity to provide a cross-sectional view of South Carolina and to reflect how truly diverse its population has become.     Friday, March 16, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.