Rod Slemmons

The public is invited to attend "Photographers Without Borders: Medium, Media, Meditation," a slide talk by PhotoSpiva 2008 juror, Rod Slemmons. The talk is presented by Spiva Center for the Arts in cooperation with the Art Department at Missouri Southern State University

The lecture will be held Saturday, April 19 at 2:00 p.m. in the Webster Hall Auditorium at MSSU. A $10 voluntary contribution is requested at the door. Reservations are requested and may be made by calling or emailing Spiva: 417.623.0183 or www.spivaarts.org

Rod Slemmons has been the Director of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago since 2002, where he teaches undergraduate photo history and graduate theory seminars in the Photography Department. He also teaches graduate courses at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Slemmons previously taught for 12 years at the University of Washington in Seattle. He was the National Chair of the Society for Photographic Education (SPE) from 1990 to 1994, and was named Honored Educator at the SPE National Conference in Miami in 2007.

Before and during his time at the University of Washington, he spent 14 years as Curator of Prints and Photographs at the Seattle Art Museum, where he produced 35 exhibitions and numerous catalogs.

Slemmons has an MA in literature and writing from the University of Iowa. He trained as a graduate intern at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House while working on an MFA in Photography and Museum Studies from the Rochester Institute of Technology, 1976–78.

On Saturday during PhotoSpiva 2008 Juror’s Lecture, Rod Slemmons will discuss his criteria for selection of prints for the exhibition and the context of contemporary photography.

This year 116 photographers from 28 states submitted 578 images, competing for $2,000 in awards. Slemmons selected 78 images by 34 artists for the exhibit. Fifteen of the featured photographers reside in Missouri, Kansas, or Arkansas.

Financial assistance for PhotoSpiva 2008 is provided by the Freeman R. Johnson Trust, Friends of St. Avips, and the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.

Spiva Center for the Arts is located at Third and Wall in downtown Joplin. The galleries and gift shop are open Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00. Admission to the Main Gallery is by voluntary contribution.

LEARN MORE: call 417.623.0183 or visit
Spiva–where imagination lives!

George A. Spiva Center for the Arts
222 W. 3rd Street
Joplin, Mo 64801
Tel: 417-623-0183
Fax: 417-623-3805
www.spivaarts.org