Two exhibits at the Nott Memorial explore serious issues in a way that is meant to stimulate new perspectives and learning opportunities.
“One Second, Everything Changes” focuses on the children and young adults impacted by alcohol-related and impaired-driving crashes in the Capital Region. It is presented by the Lewis Henry Morgan Institute and sponsored by the Mandeville Gallery and Schenectady County STOP-DWI program. Curated by Denis Foley, a DWI program leader and public anthropologist, it runs through the end of the month.
The opening reception, set for Thursday, Jan. 7, 5-7 p.m., will include remarks by Foley, STOP-DWI Coordinator Denise Cashmere, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney and Lisa Savard, the mother of a crash victim.
“Interrupted Life: Incarcerated Mothers in the United States,” opens in the Mandeville Gallery Thursday, Jan. 14. Made up of eight linked installations, it chronicles the experiences of women behind bars, separated from their families and children.
A host of related events offer unique learning opportunities for the campus community.
“Prison Lullabies” will be shown Thursday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. at Reamer Campus Center. The film features the stories of four women struggling with drug addiction, indicted for dealing and prostitution, and serving time in New York’s Taconic Correctional Facility. All four give birth behind bars in the facility, one of a handful in the country that allows women to keep their babies for the first 18 months.
Following the screening, there will be a discussion with filmmaker Odile Isralson and Lavonne K. Jackson, one of the nmates.
A lecture titled “Violent Interruptions” will be held Thursday, Feb. 4, 4 p.m. at Reamer Campus Center. Speakers include Joshua Price, director of the Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Program at SUNY Binghamton, and Noelle Chaddock Paley, interim director of Multicultural Life and adjunct professor of Africana Studies and Philosophy at SUNY Cortland. They will share their research and experiences with the Broome County Jail Project.
“Interrupted Lives in Schenectady: Stories from G and H Blocks,” scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 11, 4 p.m., at the Nott Memorial,” is a discussion with Rev. Kathy Gorman-Coombs, counseling coordinator for YWCA-NENY, Deacon Pat Jones of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church and others. Women who work with women in the Schenectady County Jail discuss issues they encounter and share stories of inmates.
“Interrupted Life” curator Solinger will talk about the policies and politics of incarceration as part of our national history, with a focus on how imprisonment has constructed female sexuality as an opportunity for institutionalizing racism. The event will be held Thursday, Feb. 25, 4 p.m., at the Nott Memorial. A reception will follow from 5-7 p.m.
Solinger is an independent historian and director of WAKEUP/Arts in New Paltz. Her exhibit has been traveling since 2006 and has visited more than 24 venues in the U.S.
“Interrupted Life” runs through Feb. 28.