Exhibition Program Dates

Opening Reception
August 18, 5PM-7PM

Looking Back – A Day of Remembrance
September 11, 1PM-5PM

Food for Thought Luncheon and Lecture
Featuring Aron Conaway, Curator
September 13, Noon–1:30PM

Reservations required, contact keith@louisvillevisualart.org 502.896.2146 x100

Photography credit: Julia Mahre (age 10), 2000

Curator’s Statement - Aron Conaway, 2011

The first seven words of the Declaration of Independence, “When in the Course of Human Events…” represent the world’s introduction to a new nation with democratic ideals, and separation from antiquated monarchies, empires and societies without liberties. However, ten years ago, an unimaginable plan enacted by a group of conspiring men has driven us away from these ideals, into a new era and a new world order.

Finding the right words to address the horrors and terror of September 11, 2001 and the following decade is difficult due to the many lines drawn in the sand. There is little point in explaining or describing anything “official” about that day, the following months, and years.  Specific words and images, our media-fed vocabulary for articulating these events, are now seared into our psyche.

The unfolding narrative of the last ten years has had, and will continue to have, a monumental effect on the lives of every American citizen at every socio-economic and cultural level. My hope is that this collection of work brings forth ideas and a variety of thoughts to demystify the rhetoric of the unified, and often biased, media messages received by Americans in the past decade. Innumerable questions remain unaddressed. Continuing calls for attention to these issues by high-ranking government and military officials, as well as by millions of citizens, have left this sharp turn in America’s history unresolved.

We must revisit the moments when we first saw these astounding images and stories, the chants of, "United We Stand". We have an obligation to consider our path onward, and to reconstruct our own perspective through this perilous time in our shared history.

A decade later, in 2011,it is time for stepping back and allowing ourselves the opportunity to explore rational and thoughtful conclusions about our current state and how we may impact the future “…course of human events”.