Return to Table of ContentsApril 1998
National Award-Winning Photo Exhibit
Examines Lives of Welfare RecipientsKaren was the victim of childhood assault, a mother at the age of 14, and homeless for two years. Darla's husband died suddenly, leaving her in a state of shock with three small children to support and raise. Stacey was laid off from her job just before the birth of her son, whose life-threatening medical problems have demanded her constant care. Tenitha has struggled to overcome a childhood legacy of hardship and become educated to provide a role model for her six children.
These are some of the true stories of welfare recipients in the photo exhibit, Families Receiving Welfare: Untold Stories which was on display in the College of Public and Community Service Lobby (fourth floor, Wheatley) through the month of March.
Untold Stories chronicles the lives of seven women from Connecticut and Massachusetts who receive or have received welfare. Look at their lives through these award-winning photos and read their stories in the accompanying texts, and the sterotype of "welfare queens" will be replaced with vivid images of each woman's difficulties and aspirations.
Several of the photojournalists and the women they photographed were present at the opening reception of the exhibit on March 10. Photojournalist Joanne Ciccarello expressed thanks to the women who agreed to be photographed, and spoke of their generosity in sharing their daily lives in order to complete this project.
Several of the women who were subjects of the photographs also spoke, almost unanimously saying that they participated in the hopes of changing the images that people have of welfare recipients. Prof. Vicky Steinitz of CPCS also spoke at the opening.
The exhibit has garnered numerous awards. Paula Lerner's photographs of Darla won 1st Place Singles and Series Awards for Issue Reporting in the 1997 National Press Photographer's Association's Pictures of the Year, a nationwide contest which received 28,000 entries. They were also selected for publication in American Photography 14, a national juried competition, and received a gold medal in the Big Picture Awards, a competition sponsored by the New England chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers.
Joanne Ciccarello's photographs of Stacey and her son Zachary during a spinal treatment won an honorable mention in the Assignment Earth Photo Contest, sponsored by the Santa Fe Center for Visual Arts.
Jane Tyska's story and photos of Tenitha appeared in the Somerville Journal and won a 2nd place award for photo series in the Better Newspaper Contest, sponsored by the New England Press Association. Wendy Mimran's photographs of Karen appeared in publications distributed by the Massachusetts Campaign for Children.
Other photojournalists contributing to the show are Christine Breslin, Beth Reynolds, and Heather Pillar.
Untold Stories first opened in June of 1997 at Boston City Hall. The exhibit then travelled to Wheelock College and Brandeis University before arriving at UMass Boston at the beginning of March. Jain Ruvidich-Higgins of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy is credited for coordinating the exhibit on campus. She says it was a ten-month labor of love and belief.
"I thought the exhibit was important to bring to UMass Boston because when I look at my own ways of understanding issues, art is what catapults me into the experience, short of experiencing it myself. I wanted to expose people to these particular images, because the power of a photo exhibit can be a greater motivator than spending a whole day at a conference," she says.
Special thanks also goes to CPCS Dean Ismael Ramirez-Soto and Associate Dean of CPCS Reebee Garofalo for their support and providing a space for the exhibit, and to the UMass Boston Women's Center, which paid for the reception.