An interactive photography project exploring local housing insecurity has found a permanent home on the Mary Baldwin University campus in Staunton.
This is Home is a project of the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge. The bulk of the work on the project was done by employees Miriam Burrows and Chris Lassiter; and photographer Kate Simon.
Simon, who studied sociology at Mary Baldwin, is excited for her photographs to have a permanent location on the campus.
“I feel really honored to be part of the education,” Simon said, “and to be a part of what these students take out into the world and make a difference themselves.”
The exhibit is available on the walls of classroom 207 in the Carpenter Academic Hall. The classroom is dedicated to the Susan Warfield Caples social work program.
“When we conceived this exhibit, we hoped that it would travel throughout the community and spark conversations about housing. We never imagined that it would find a permanent home,” said Dan Layman, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge. “Then the social work faculty and staff at Mary Baldwin expressed interest in having portions of the exhibit on permanent display as tools for classroom discussion. Their interest in the exhibit affirmed the power that these images and stories contain for everyone right now and into the future.”
In a small community, problems like homelessness and housing insecurity can be difficult to perceive. The exhibit helps the students bring the issues closer to home.
“The other piece that was big for our students was the localization of the issue,” said Mary Clay Thomas, associate dean and director of the school of professional studies. “As juniors in the social work program, they are learning about poverty and working with underprivileged and underrepresented populations. This is not something that when you first come to Staunton you are aware of. The photographs really brought the localization of what poverty looks like in our community to the classroom.”
Thomas believes the addition of the exhibit is a fitting way to honor the legacy of Caples.
“A few years ago, we gave this classroom in honor of her,” she said. “It has not anything on the walls. We have this classroom, but we hadn’t done too much to make it our own. This felt like a perfect partnership for us to have a place be able to show the photographs and tell the stories. It fits with social work, and it’s also in honor of Sue and the legacy she’s left for us at Mary Baldwin.”
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Crystal Graham
