An opening reception will be held Thursday, June 26, 2003 at 1 p.m. The public is invited.
The portraits of a dozen students at Watsonville Community School are the work of Chicago-based photographer Dawoud Bey. Bey came to the school under the auspices of California State University, Monterey BayÕs Reclamation Project. The grant-funded project unites artists and community organizations to explore social issues through creative partnerships.
Exhibit organizers and school officials hope the portraits will give the community a more nuanced, insightful image of the teenagers.
Watsonville Community School, operated by the Santa Cruz Office of Education, primarily serves teens who have run into trouble with the law or whose chronic truancy has put their education at risk.
Bey started his career photographing street scenes in Harlem in the 1970s. He has focused on young people since the early Õ90s. He uses the images to not only change perceptions of the teens, but teach them what it means to be an artist.
While visiting the school in March, Bey said that with his portraits, he attempts to get past stereotypes. ÒIÕm more interested in getting the kids in some kind of credible, compelling emotional and psychological representation.Ó
The photographs will be on display through August. The Watsonville post office is located at 225 Main St. and can be reached by calling 724-2262
For more information, contact Reclamation Project coordinator Alison Clifford at 582-3130 or Watsonville Community School administrator Lynda Leigh at 251-6302.