Soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Donn Young was back home in New Orleans taking photographs.
Soon after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Donn Young was back home in New Orleans taking photographs.
The opening of an exhibit of his work, panel discussions and more, Sept. 8-10 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will recognize the fifth anniversary (Sunday, Aug. 29) of the disaster.
“We will seek to explain how the storm impacted people and communities, and how lives are being rebuilt and renewed,” said Gavin Smith, Ph.D., research associate professor in city and regional planning and executive director of the UNC Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters, one of several UNC units sponsoring the events. “We will explore the human impact of the storm.”
The events, all free to the public, will be as follows:
Sept. 8, 2 p.m., 2603 Knapp-Sanders Building, 400 South Road: A panel will discuss regions in the South and associated public policy issues related to poverty, race relations, inequality and economic growth. Research will be paired with photographs to communicate the analysis, because data alone cannot convey the complexities and nuances of the people. The panelists and their topics will include:
- Maureen Berner, Ph.D., UNC professor of public administration and government, and Sharon Paynter, Ph.D., assistant professor of political science at East Carolina University: “Poverty Through the Lens of Hunger”;
- Jesse White, Ph.D., UNC adjunct professor of government: “Economic Development”; and
- Donn Young, whose New Orleans photography studio was ravaged by Katrina: “Successful Collaboration Between Artist and Researcher.” Young curated “40 Days and 40 Nights,” an exhibit for the Louisiana State Archives in collaboration with Tulane University and others. The exhibit featured works by more than 100 New Orleans artists designed to tell the story of communities rebuilding after Katrina.
Sept. 9, 2 p.m., Gerrard Hall, 160 Cameron Ave. A panel will discuss the ongoing human impact of Hurricane Katrina on the people and communities in the Gulf Coast region. First-person accounts of Hurricane Katrina will be presented through photographs, personal accounts and storytelling. All will focus on how individuals, communities and states were affected, survived and are preparing for the future. Presenters will include:
- LaToya Cantrell, president, Broadmoor Improvement Association, of New Orleans’ Broadmoor neighborhood;
- Andrew Horowitz, director, New Haven Oral History Program, Yale University, and team leader of the oral history project “Imagining New Orleans”;
- David Perkes, director, Gulf Coast Community Design Studio;
- Gavin Smith, Ph.D., executive director, UNC Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters; and
- Donn Young, New Orleans photographer.
Sept. 9, 5:30 pm, Center for the Study of the American South, 410 East Franklin St. An exhibit of Donn Young’s photographs of New Orleans after Katrina, to be up through Oct. 1, will open with a reception. The exhibit also will feature some of his photos for the North Carolina Hunger Project, a collaborative effort with the UNC School of Government. Katie Bowler, a featured “40 Days and 40 Nights” poet, will read from her long poem about post-Katrina New Orleans, “State Street” (Bull City Press, 2009). A musical performance by Peter Holsapple, who relocated to Durham from New Orleans in 2006, will follow. Holsapple once played with R.E.M. Light refreshments will be served.
Sept. 10, noon, Center for the Study of the American South, 410 East Franklin St. Reservations required. Anyone planning to attend should call (919) 962-0503 to reserve a space. Students in the UNC School of Law Pro-Bono Program will conduct a lunchtime roundtable discussion, “Providing Legal Assistance in Low-Income, Rural Communities in the South.” The students partner with the UNC Center for Civil Rights, Legal Aid of North Carolina, the Mississippi Center for Justice and legal offices in the New Orleans to help deliver free legal services to low-income families in the South. Their projects have included researching education and housing law, helping draft wills for rural African-American landowners and handling criminal and family law matters in the years after Hurricane Katrina.
The events are sponsored by UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South; Center for the Study of Natural Hazards and Disasters; Center for Poverty, Work and Opportunity; School of Law Pro-Bono Program; and School of Government. For more information, visit http://www.uncsouth.org/ or call (919) 962-5665.
Note: For more on Donn Young, visit http://www.sph.tulane.edu/40days/bios/young.htm.
Photos: Donn Young’s photos in the post-Katrina New Orleans exhibit, Sept. 9 through Oct. 1 at UNC’s Center for the Study of the American South, will include:
Cameras after the storm: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/arts/2010/donn-young%5C%27s-cameras-after-th-storm-%23124.jpg
9th Ward sunrise: http://uncnews.unc.edu/images/stories/news/arts/2010/neighborhoods%20sunrise-9th-ward%20no%20white.jpg
Center for the Study of the American South contact: Lisa Beavers, (919) 962-0503, lbeavers@unc.edu
School of Law contact: Katie Bowler, (919) 843-7148, kbowler@unc.edu
News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589