Living With Scarcity
Visions of Hope
Swords Into Plowshares Peace Center and Gallery whole-heartedly thanks Frank and Melina Hammer for their contributions to the Gallery's latest exiting exhibit.
"It's a wonder that such a mess could be so beautiful," is how one Gallery visitor summed up the exhibition of photographs of an abandoned warehouse in Southwest Detroit. The photos, by Melina and Frank Hammer, a daughter-father team of photographers, are a product of Frank's discovery of the Detroit Public Schools warehouse, abandoned after a fire. The warehouse is indeed a mess; the colors and arrangements that result from Frank and Melina's touch, give us the beauty.
"Living with Scarcity, Visions of Hope" combines these warehouse photos with scenes from Cuba, taken when Frank, a GM employee and retired UAW rep, journeyed to the island as part of a U.S. labor delegation hosted by Cuba's light industry union. The photos give expression to the resourcefulness of the Cuban people in the face of the U.S.'s brutal embargo, now in its 47th year.
The two photo groups express the duality of destruction and rebirth, and have spawned a series of three forums held at the gallery.
The first, "Detroit's Education Crisis", brought together educators and others concerned in a spirited discussion of what education should consist of in our present crisis-ridden city.
The second explored the grass roots urban agriculture movement underway in Detroit, and its more senior cousin, developed in Cuba after the collapse of the former Soviet Union.
The third was timely in its focus on the U.S.-Cuba relationship under the Obama administration. The Forum featured Judge Claudia Morcom, Frank Hammer and wife Karen, along with others who have recently returned from the island.
Deep and sincere thanks to all the participants, community members and individuals who made these events such great successes.
These events may have passed, but please stop by the gallery for strikingly beautiful notecards from the exhibit. And as always, these conversations were only the beginning. KEEP THEM GOING!
Check back soon for photos
from this event!
Please be patient!
We're working like ants here! :)