Center for Documentary Expression and Art

The organization realizes its mission by originating and developing project-driven Documentary work (Documentary work is defined as: oral histories, photography, video, visual Art, research, oral storytelling, and narrative). A Documentary project may build, for example, toward a traveling photography exhibit with audio guides and a publication; or it may move toward a publication with a cd (audio content); or it may aim to produce a series of short films with a website. There are many authentic and effective ways to present the content of Documentary work. Cdea projects that develop traveling exhibits are accompanied by multi- faceted, education-outreach programs and fall into two categories: (1) major exhibits created for large museums that contain national subject matter infused with significant human rights issues, and (2) educational exhibits designed primarily for use by Utah's k-12 public school students, community centers, libraries, and smaller museums that explore the state's and nation's multi-cultural history and environmental issues. Exhibits traveling inside Utah are presented under the title exhibits that teach (ett) and contain four-to-eight-week, place-based, artists/scholars-in- residence (asir) programs (ett-asir). Documentary projects resulting in major exhibits the development of Documentary projects resulting in major, traveling exhibits with books and films, or related expressions of Documentary work, is ongoing. On the average, Documentary projects that result in a major exhibit take four-to-six years to research, develop, design, and produce. Between 2006-2011, the organization completed a major exhibit titled, this light of ours: activist photographers of the civil rights movement. This project presented the civil rights movement through the work and voices of eight men and one woman who documented the national struggle against segregation and other forms of race-based disenfranchisement from within the movement. The exhibit inaugurated the human rights gallery at the leonardo: an Art, science, and technology Center, in downtown salt lake city, in october 2011, and remained available to the Utah public for nine months, or until june 2012. The presentation of this light of ours included cell-phone accessible audio guides for youth and adults; a free, six-page brochure for use by students and the general public; a 53pg curriculum guide for grades 7-12; and a 251pg book published by the university press of Mississippi. The organization also organized a month-long symposia at three Utah universities and a community college involving local and national activists and historians. Cdea also partnered with Utah's pbs affiliate, kued-tv, to create Utah's freedom riders, a 30 minute film presenting Utah's civil rights activists. More than 58,000 people visited the display in Utah, with about thirty percent of visitors being k-16 students. In 2013, following the exhibit's debut, the organization's executive director leslie kelen was retained by the Utah state board of education (usbe) to create an eight-week, on-line course to introduce Utah public school teachers to the civil rights movement. Director kelen has taught the class on an intermittent basis since 2013. In fall 2013, this light of ours: activist photographers of the civil rights movement started traveling outside Utah. A five-year period (2013- 2018) was set aside for the exhibit's initial national tour. This touring period culminated with the exhibit's display at the irving arts Center in irving, Texas, between january-march 2018. In may 2018, the organization partnered with the maltz museum of jewish heritage, located in cleveland, Ohio, to carry out a second five-year tour. The start of the tour was delayed by the 2019-2020 outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, interfering with the february-august 2020 display at the bullock sate history museum, in austin, Texas. The second national tour is expected to conclude with the display of this light of ours at the maltz museum of jewish heritage from october 23, 2022 to april 2, 2023. A third five-year national tour of this light of ours kicked off with the display's presentation at the skirball cultural Center in los angeles, California, from october 19 2023-february 25, 2024. New Documentary projects since 2016-17, the organization has conducted research aimed at developing two interrelated projects. The first is titled, when you live in this world: an oral history. This project will use hundreds of oral histories created by the organization between 1982-1989 and 1998-2003, and a new set of interviews being recorded between 2022-2024 to convey the 20th and 21st century story of Utah's ethnic and minority people. When you live in this world involves reediting, expanding, and redesigning the organization's foundational book, missing stories: an oral history of ethnic and minority groups in Utah, which was first published by the university of Utah press in 1995 as a part of Utah's state centennial celebrations. Unlike missing stories, which used oral histories to present eight 20th century community profiles, when you live in this world will use a geographic/chronological/thematic format to convey a people's history of 20th and 21st century Utah. The project's aim is to produce a book that has broad appeal to Utah educators and the general public. The second (and interrelated endeavor) is titled, my america: stories of Utah's immigrants, migrants, and refugees. My america is conceived of as a series of short (under 8 minutes long) videos that tell the stories of immigrants, migrants, and refugees who left their places of origin in the 1924-1965 and 1965 to-the present periods and relocated to Utah because of economic opportunities, government compulsion, or to escape persecution. The organization is preparing to use these videos on a website that features when you live in this world. The goal will be to utilize the videos as an introduction to the more fully-covered subject of migration in the book. New exhibit on april 12, 2022, cdea acquired a forty-image exhibit of black-and-white photographs with didactic text from jeannine herron, the widow of the late civil rights photographer, matt herron. Herron died on friday, august 7, 2020, when his glider plane crashed about 125 miles northwest of sacramento, California. He was the curator of the cdea major exhibit, this light of ours: activist photographers of the civil rights movement, and a highly-regarded Documentary photographer, with a unique body of work completed during the 1960s civil rights era. Herron printed and curated the 40-image exhibit-i'm walking for my freedom-in 2019, and in early 2020 the exhibit went on display at the san francisco public library. Exhibit photos depict the historically pivotal selma to montgomery march led by dr. martin luther king, jr. The 54-mile march took place in march 1965 and was credited with moving the u.s. congress to pass the 1965 voting rights bill, considered the most important civil rights legislation of that period. Herron considered his coverage of the march as one of his most significant photographic achievements. Cdea is honored to play a role in furthering matt herron's legacy as an activist photographer and to use the exhibit to expand a national conversation about protecting voting rights in the u.s. In march 2022, the organization contracted with the southern Utah university, museum of Art, to debut the forty-image exhibit in Utah as a part of the summer 2022 shakespeare festival. I'm walking for my freedom was displayed at the cedar city museum from june 2 to september 22, 2022, and received more than 13,500 visitors. Venues in the immediate future are expected to be Utah public libraries and museums.

Exhibits that teach displays are smaller than major exhibits and are designed for use in Utah's k-12 public schools, public libraries, and rural museums. Exhibits contain photographs and oral histories (with related didactic text). They are generally booked from four-to-eight weeks at each educational site. Five exhibits that teach displays are currently available. In order of their development, they are: - faces and voices of refugee youth (2002); - sacred images: a vision of native american rock Art (2007); - ceremonies: a tale of sister cities (2008); - reawakened beauty: the past, present, and future of the jordan river (2009);and justice-memory-artivism (2014). Three of the exhibits (sacred images; reawakened beauty; and justice- memory-activism) are accompanied by cdea-designed artists/scholars-in- residence (asir) programs. Asir programs engage students in intensive, long-term, place-based projects that promote study and practice of the Documentary arts; generate original student Art; and integrate arts learning with learning in other subjects. Exhibits that teach displays and artists/scholars-in-residence programs enable students to create original Art while exploring such varied subjects as: Utah history, Utah's cultural diversity, indigenous cultures, indigenous Art, ecology, biology, environmental science, immigration, discrimination and racism, cross cultural communication, and resolving conflict nonviolently. Over the past eighteen months, sacred images: a vision of native american rock art-artists/scholars-in-residence program was presented at pleasant grove high school in the alpine school district. Reawakened beauty: the past, present, and future of the jordan river-artists/scholars-in-residence program was presented to south valley high school, in the granite school district, at cdea's new outdoor classroom site in south jordan. and justicememoryartivismartistsschol... program was presented at the mcgillis school in salt lake city. and a second presentation of cdea's new residency, "we are telling our stories," will feature dr. david gonzalez, poet, storyteller, musician, and will be carried out at the west valley performing arts Center in cooperation with university neighborhood partners, Utah presents, and salt lake community college. Cdea also is pleased to confirm the continuing presentation of its reawakened beauty: the past, present, and future of the jordan river- artists/scholars-in-residence program. In 2022, cdea signed a contract to form a five-year partnership with the Utah reclamation mitigation and conservation commission to build three, modest, outdoor classrooms on its 123-acre, migratory bird sanctuary in south jordan. The outdoor classrooms provide a long-term locus for cdea's reawakened beauty residencies, while offering the urmcc a compelling, multi-disciplinary educational program aimed at guiding young people (high school and college age) to become stewards of this unique convservation site.