Emily Davis Gallery
University of Akron
Akron, Ohio
The exhibition and related programming were funded in part by an ArtSTART grant from The Ohio Arts Council.
Untold Stories Exhibition Image, 2019
Untold Stories is a multi-venue project.
Untold Stories: Akron at the Emily Davis Gallery, University of Akron included my imaginary realism prints, curated archival materials I selected from the University of Akron Archives, and three videos featuring on-camera interviews with community members titled 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. Interviewing community members, I learned about racist and bigoted hiring policies at the tire plants, the history of Akron’s urban development and the emergence of ethnic neighborhoods, and eventual neighborhood disinvestment. These decisions from a bygone era are still visible in the post prosperity landscapes, lived daily, and perpetuate structural racism. Current and retired workers and labor activists shared their stories about the struggle for the dignity of work and racial and gender equality in the workplace. Academics addressed the prolonged economic, social, and cultural traumas of deindustrialization.
Untold Futures Panel
April 11, 2019
Moderated by Jennifer Vanderpool
- Kimberly A. Irvin-Lee
Minority Business Assistance Center
Akron Urban League - Dr. Bill Lyons
Associate Dean, Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Professor and Director of Center for Conflict Management
University of Akron - Sean T. Posey
Historian, Writer, and Photographer
Youngstown, Ohio - Jason Segedy
Assistant to the Mayor
Director of Planning and Urban Development
City of Akron
Akron to Cleveland, 2018
8′ x 20′
Vinyl Banner
Buffalo to Toledo, 2018
36″ x 60″
Archival Photographic Intervention Print
Grand Rapids to Youngstown, 2019
36″ x 60″
Archival Photographic Intervention Print
Akron to Youngstown, 2019
60″ x 36″
Archival Photographic Intervention Print
Toledo to Akron, 2019
60″ x 36″
Archival Photographic Intervention Print
Gary to Cleveland, 2019
60″ x 36″
Archival Photographic Intervention Print
Buffalo to Cleveland, 2019
60″ x 36″
Archival Photographic Intervention Print
Detroit to Cleveland, 2019
87″ x 81″
Sticker
Excerpts from Interview with Marvin and Maddie Evans from Jennifer Vanderpool on Vimeo.
Mervin and Marvin Evans visiting the Untold Stories exhibition, March 2019
Men Looking at Akronite, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
NAACP Freedom Bus, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
Urban League Service Center, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
May Festival of Music, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
Easter Congregation, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
Mrs. Vivian Riggins, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
Junior Legaue Puppeteers Show Wagon, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Records, University of Akron Archival Services
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Records, University of Akron Archival Services
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Records, University of Akron Archival Services
Mr. Ray Dove, Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Records, University of Akron Archival Services
Pump and Compressor Engineer, Opie Evans Papers, University of Akron Archival Services
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company Records, University of Akron Archival Services
