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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, TN (March 19, 2012) — “Legacy,” a photography exhibit by Milligan College senior Kayla Hatcher, opens Sunday, March 25, from 2 to 4 p.m., in the Milligan Art Gallery, located in the lower level of Derthick Hall. This event is free and open to the public.
The exhibit stems from Hatcher’s internship with New Day Foster Home in China during the summer of 2010. This home serves as an orphanage for children with health conditions requiring too much financial assistance or care for them to be placed in traditional orphanages. The exhibit also will focus on Hatcher’s travels to Haiti, where she worked with House of Hope, an orphanage for girls. In addition, it includes photographs from the Asheville-based program, “I Have a Dream,” which works with low-income children in the area.
Hatcher explained that national headlines all too often mask the faces of children in need throughout the world. Those in China are overshadowed by the greater injustice of a one-child policy; while in Haiti, many are overshadowed by the tragic 2010 earthquake. Similarly, American children living in low-income housing are often labeled insignificant because of degradation, she added.
“Through the faces of the children who live in these regions, the photographs of ‘Legacy’ challenge the viewer to see past the headlines and focus on the possibilities rather than policies, hope rather than devastation and dreams rather than degradation,” said Hatcher.
Hatcher hopes that by displaying the faces of these children, individuals will see another side to their stories.
“I want others to see the possibilities of these amazing children rather than the labels society has given them,” said Hatcher. “A few of the children are also up for adoption, so I am praying for some forever families to walk through those doors and see their child for the first time.”
Hatcher, a photography major from St. Charles, Mo., was recently named a finalist in the 32nd Annual Photographer’s Forum Photo Contest. Her work will be published in a hardcover book, “Best of College Photography 2012,” to be released this summer.
For more information about arts events at Milligan, visit www.milligan.edu/arts.