Untold Stories
January 25 - April 7, 2019
Tyler History Center
Youngstown, Ohio
March 11 - April 19, 2019
Emily Davis Gallery
University of Akron
Akron, Ohio
Untold Stories' narrative objectifies outmoded imagery of blighted ‘Rust Belt’ cities and employs them as allegories to evoke questions about neighborhood decay and gentrification, segregation and integrated cities, generations of unemployment and economic redevelopment. The exhibition at The Tyler History Center functions as a case study of Youngstown, while at the Emily Davis Gallery it emphasizes Akron. Together the venues work hand in hand to query the social, political, economic, and racial crises faced by these legacy cities located 50 miles apart in Northeast Ohio.
Untold Stories at the Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron included Vanderpool's imaginary realism prints, curated archival materials she selected from the University of Akron Archives, and three documentaries: Working Class Jobs: Women + Race in the Rust Belt, Akron and Environs: Industrial and Agrarian Labor, and Opie Evans: Jennifer Vanderpool and Arnold Tunstall in Conversation with Marvin and Maddie Evans.
The exhibition and related programming is funded in part by both institutions and an ArtSTART grant from The Ohio Arts Council.