By Sarah Snyder, Marketing and Communications Intern
In 2021, Cincinnati photography curator William Messer approached the Miami University Art Museum with an idea for an exhibition in association with the 2022 Cincinnati-based FotoFocus Biennial. FotoFocus Biennial, a showcased celebration of photography around the world, highlights World Record – “photography’s extensive record of life on earth, humankind’s impact on the natural world, and the choices we now face as a global community” – as its 2022 theme.
The resulting exhibition, titled PhotOH: Photographers in the Heartland, is dedicated to showcasing diverse work created by Ohio-based artists throughout the state. The exhibition, supported by FotoFocus, is free and open to the public, and will be on display at MUAM for the entirety of the 2022 Fall semester.
Messer worked together with Jason E. Shaiman, MUAM’s Curator of Exhibitions, to create the exhibition of 51 photographs by 27 photographers with the goal of exposing the Miami University community and the broader FotoFocus audience to a geographically diverse survey of photographers working in Ohio. PhotOH will also be a visited venue by the Oracle XL meetings of international photography curators taking place in Cincinnati and at the nearby Hueston Woods Lodge & Conference Center.
The exhibition’s featured program, titled PhotOH: Behind the Lens. Reception and Artist Panel, will be held from 5-7 pm on Wednesday, October 12. Join us at MUAM for a special reception and opportunity to meet some of the artists featured in the exhibition. The night will include a panel discussion with featured photographers Donald Black, Jr., Lori Nix, Kathleen Gerber, and Bruce Checefsky, moderated by co-curator William Messer.
#FotoFocus #MiamiOHPhotoExhibition #MUAM