Syria: Photograph Your Curiosity
In 2003, Missbach Day was invited to exhibit, teach, and lecture on photography in both Aleppo and Damascus in Syria. The collaborative workshop with the students cumulated in a exhibition in the American Cultural Center.
Modern Community Tree
The children brought objects reflecting cultural heritage of their ancestors and showed them to the camera. Working together they choose their backdrop, became the sun by holding the flash and pressed the shutter. Once the work was printed we got out our trusty scissors, glue and string to make the portrait ovals. Sticks from the shoreline of the Chicago river, sanded and wrapped in colorful yarn, blended the youthful faces with natural nesting materials.
We Become Space
During their space exploration studies we discussed what the students might want to take with them if they were visiting another planet. It all boiled down to the children wanting to bring each other. A galaxy emerged to include Planet Naval, Saturn Sees All, Nebulas That Listen, Kicking Kaleidoscopes, Stinky Puss Pods, Big Hairy Audacious Comets, Good at Looking Stars and Stars of Praise. This group also co-authored an accompanying story, person by person adding line by line without peeking at the one before. This process informed the narrative manifesting in the shadow boxes.
The DiRT
The Dirt, is an undeveloped, four city lot parcel in East Garfield Park. Since 2022, a handful of local experts have supported the effort to clean it up by removing loads of urban debris and dead trees. The next year, this group further advised on detox of the dirt, by planting rye grass whose long roots pull out toxins while allowing the natural weeds do their work restoring healthy soil. Last Summer, a wide variety of new native plants and trees were put in to further promote a robust environment for bugs, bees, birds and bats, thus helping pollinators and creating oxygen. Dirt, in itself, is fairly useless. The land becoming soil is the goal. What is useful about maintaining The DiRT’s title is its acronym, Doing it Right Together. As this land continues to speak to us about what it needs to progress its good work, we cannot be more excited to watch it bloom on its own time.