Artists’ Talk Tuesday, May 18 @ 7:00

Vital.Vibrant.Visible: Local Indigenous Identity Through Portraiture

Join the Athol Public Library on Tuesday, May 18 at 7:00 (via Zoom) for a presentation of Vital.Vibrant.Visible: Local Indigenous Identity Through Portraiture. The photographer, Sara K. Lyons, and the curator, Rhonda Anderson, will speak.

Vital.Vibrant.Visible: Local Indigenous Identity Through Portraiture is a photography exhibit that features portraits of Indigenous people who live and work in our region. It is currently on view in the conference room of theAthol Public Library.

Vital.Vibrant.Visible: Local Indigenous Identity Through Portraiture was conceived by curator Rhonda Anderson to counteract the spread of inaccurate stereotypes in response to recent debate over the rebranding of local sports mascots.

Anderson teamed up with photographer Sara Lyons to photograph and collect statements from members of the local Indigenous community. To facilitate Indigenous-led narrative change, participants were photographed in a location meaningful to them and each had agency over how they chose to represent themselves. The resulting images, paired with the personal statements written by each subject, will be on view at the Athol Public Library from May 1 - June 30, 2021.

Rhonda Anderson and Sara Lyons will participate in an online presentation about the exhibit hosted by the Athol Public Library on Tuesday evening, May 18th at 7 p.m. To register for this event, visit https://tinyurl.com/5ajwdyr9.

Seed funding and support for Vital.Vibrant.Visible came from Eggtooth Productions. Additionally, this work is supported in part by grants from the Orange, Athol, Royalston, Wendell, and Petersham Cultural Councils, each a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.

This event is free and open to the public. Please register by clicking this link: