Georgia College presents Más allá de las palabras


	POSTED: October 5, 2009 Access News & Events page
	Georgia College presents Más allá de las palabras – Beyond Words This exhibition of recent paintings by Valerie Aranda and installation by Alejandro Garcia-Lemos gives artistic expression to the diverse Latino experience in the South. Together they create a dialogue within and about community addressing social justice, diversity, issues of immigration, and leadership. The exhibition will be on display between Oct. 19 and Dec. 4 at Wooten-Garner House, ArtFix Gallery at 131 S. Clarke St. An art reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Oct. 22 with an artist talk and presentation at 6 p.m. The paintings by Georgia College Associate Professor Valerie Aranda are portraits of leaders in Georgia who work with the Latino community. Her work is inspired by the actions and advocacy of these individuals and their impact within the community - including schools and grassroots organizations in Georgia. Aranda’s portraits aim to make visible some of the challenging issues Latinos face today. The research for these paintings involved photo documentation, public presentations, and live interviews with these community leaders. The genius of the paintings grew from the interviews that Aranda conducted with Jerry Gonzalez, Director of Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO) in Atlanta; Sister Margarita Martin, ACJ, Oasis Católico Santa Rafaela, Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Athens; Alma Lorena Aguilar, Hispanic Initiative Program Manager, Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia and GCSU Alumna of Fort Valley; Alexis Ruiz, Students for Latino Empowerment, Student organizer at UGA in Athens. Each of these individuals is a leader, a mentor and an activist and each has made a difference in their community as advocates for families, youth and social justice. The opening reception will include presentations by these community leaders. This project was supported by the 2009 GCSU faculty research grant. The installation, Migration Letters in Spanglish by Alejandro García-Lemos, is a simple alphabet originally designed to be book-art that transformed into a 26-piece installation. The project reflects the multifaceted issues of immigration to the United States. The Wooten-Garner House, ArtFix Gallery, at GCSU is the second stop of this installation that was shown earlier this year at the 701 Whaley Street in Columbia, South Carolina and will be shown as part of the A de Arte exhibition at the public library in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina next year. For more information call gallery coordinator Carlos M. Herrera at (478) 445-7025. Access News & Events page For more information, contact Judy Bailey in University Communications at (478) 445-4477.