September 7 – October 6, 2019
Curator, Shreepad Joglekar
Julia Alley. Betty’s Café, Cuba, Kansas, Pigment print, 12×18 inches, 2018
Opening Reception, September 7 | 2 pm
Shreepad Joglekar, Curator, will make introductory remarks, followed by screening of five short documentary films
Refreshments. Free admission
H U N G R Y H E A R T L A N D is the culmination of the multimedia educational and outreach campaign initiated in Fall 2018 by K-State faculty members in three departments: Shreepad Joglekar, Associate Professor, Art Department; Tom Hallaq, Associate Professor – Digital Media, A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications; and Han Yu, Professor, English Department. Twenty-one of their students participated in the project. The exhibition of their work includes photography and short documentaries that reveal, document and interpret the issues of healthy food accessibility and food insecurity in Kansas.
The team took a two-day field trip to three counties in northern Kansas, where students were able to apply the skills they learned in the classroom to creative challenges in the real world. “It was a profound experience for all,” noted Professor Shreepad Joglekar. “The stories they discovered resulted in five short documentaries, which will be screened at the opening of this exhibition.”
Joglekar continues: “Kansas is the Wheat State, the nation’s breadbasket, and a leader in grain sorghum, corn, soybean, and beef productions. By all appearances, it is a bustling agricultural state where food access should be the least of one’s concerns. Yet ironically, right here in our agricultural state are patches of food deserts where nearly 25 percent of local Kansans lack affordable and easy access to fresh food. Few people living their lives comfortably give food access a second thought. Very little of this dire situation is known to Kansans and other people outside the state. The H U N G R Y H E A R T L A N D project was initiated with the central goal of education and outreach to improve public understanding of these issues.”
The distinguishing aspect of this project and exhibition is that it illustrates how audio-visual media can be used to initiate constructive social dialogues about the immediate concerns of communities. The project serves a dual educational purpose – students who investigated the issues of food insecurity and lack of access discovered facts and facets of these issues in their own communities of which they were previously unaware, and their work in turn became the vehicle to further engage and educate a wider population, potentially leading to positive social change. Much of the work in the exhibition was produced through interdisciplinary dialogue, independent research, and a collaborative sprit which makes it unique.
Exhibiting students are: Julia Alley, Art Major, KSU; Yeuming Cao, Architecture Graduate Student (Graduated); Christian Carter, Architecture Graduate Student (Graduated); Devin Peterson, Art Major KSU; Dakota Smith, Architecture Graduate Student (Graduated); Shay Washington, Art Major, KSU.
Documentaries produced by: Jack Bresser, Desiree Schippers, Emma Carter, Gabriella Doebele, Alyssa Kirkland, Megan Fish, Bridget Howard, Natalie Jaeger, Brady Budke, Bret Huntington, Adam Condrey, Grant Miller, Sara Partin, Erin Smee, Benjamin Moberly, Emily Frances Wohaska, Micah Drake, Dakota Smith.
For further information about this project, contact: Shreepad Joglekar, Associate Professor, KSU sjoglek@ksu.edu
Here are links to more Hungry Heartland work by the students:
Hungry Heartland – Hungry Students: A Pike Valley Story
https://youtu.be/Bc-iM4Ejv_A
Hungry Heartland – College Students
https://youtu.be/tUavyW5hk6g
Hungry Heartland – Farmers and Food Deserts
https://youtu.be/CJpIe4yunu0
Hungry Heartland – Rural Grocers
https://youtu.be/1eN-jFEiKqI
Hungry Heartland – The Cuba Story
https://youtu.be/J9T-_gDkAWQ
Feed the Desert, blog
https://feedthedesertksu.wordpress.com/…/…/hungry-heartland/
Helping the Hunger, blog
https://feedthedesertksu.wordpress.com/…/helping-the-hunger/
The exhibit is made possible with the support of
Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, Northwest Kansas Economic Innovation Center, Inc., Union of Concerned Scientists, Art Department – Kansas State University, A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications – Kansas State University, and The Volland Store Fund, administered by Kansas Rural Communities Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization.
Special Thanks to:
Belleville Community Garden, Belleville, KS, Belleville Farmers Market, Belleville, KS, Betty’s Café, Cuba, KS, Clyde Ideal Market, Clyde, KS, Cloud County Community College, Concordia, KS, Cuba Cash Store, Cuba, KS, Depot Market, Courtland, KS, Rod’s Foodstuff, Concordia, KS, Jay Kallman, Concordia, KS, Jewell County United Methodist Church, Jewell, KS, Jewell Grocery, Jewell, KS, John Boxa, Belleville, KS, Kiers Thriftway, Mankato, KS, Pike Valley Elementary/Jr. High School, Courtland, KS
The Volland Store is A Place for Art and Community, 24098 Volland Road, Alma, KS. Driving directions at thevollandstore.com. Normal hours of operation are Saturdays and Sundays, 12 – 5 pm. Always open by appointment. 785-499-3616