USI to host MidWest Society for Photographic Education Conference October 18

The University of Southern Indiana, in collaboration with New Harmony, Indiana, will host the MidWest Society for Photographic Education Conference Thursday through Saturday, October 17-19. Brooke Shaden, conference keynote speaker, will be on campus to give a lecture at 4 p.m. Friday, October 18 in WA1 (Forum 1), followed by a gallery reception at 7 p.m. in the McCutchan Art Center (MAC)/PACE Galleries.

"Bringing the Midwest Society for Photographic Education Conference to USI and New Harmony is a wonderful opportunity to share the great things that our University and New Harmony have to offer," says Rob Dickes, Associate Professor of Photography and Digital Imaging. "One of my priorities during the conference is to get community college and high school faculty to see the Art Center and the remarkable work our students are creating."

Dickes organized the conference, titled Visions of Utopia. Currently, the MAC/Pace Galleries 1 showcases work by Shaden, a contemporary photographer who lives in Flagstaff, Arizona. Her series, Samsara,"creates a rich, uncomfortable, and open space to dissect how we internalize grief and how other cultures practice rituals surrounding death.

On view in MAC/Pace Galleries 2 and 3 is Classic & Contemporary: Selections from the Paul Paletti Collection, generously on loan to the University by Paul Paletti, an attorney and art collector, who will also attend the conference.

To learn more about the events in New Harmony, read more here. For questions, contact Dickes at [email protected].