"En Memoria: Roadside Memorials and Public Grieving in America," an exhition of photography by Stephen Chalmers which is being hosted by Assistant Professor Alex Mouton and the Denison University Art Gallery, will open on Saturday (Nov. 8) in space at 121 East Broadway. Renovation of the Denison gallery storage space and reorganization of the gallery's collections has resulted in a temporary disruption of normal exhibition schedules and open hours at the Burke Hall location. The East Broadway second story space -- now dubbed Studio 250 -- has been donated by Ben Rader. The exhibition will be open from 1 to 4 p.m. daily through December 14 following the opening reception.

Chalmers, a Vail visiting artist, will be at the opening reception for the exhibition from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturday and will also present a lecture, which is open to the public, at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday (Nov. 6) in the Cleveland Hall Annex, 201 N. Mulberry St. In addition to the exhibition and lecture, Chalmers will present albumen print workshops for Denison students. The "En Memoria" exhibit shows many roadside memorials -- from simple to elaborate -- that are constructed to honor persons who have died along the highways and byways of America.

Chalmers is an assistant professor of photography and digital imaging at Central Washington University. He earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology and a bachelor of arts in fine arts at the University of Louisville (Ky.) and a master of fine arts degree at Southern Illinois University. He has taught at St. Louis Community College and for the Oregon Commission on Children and Families.

A semi-finalist for the Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize from the Center for Documentary Studies this past spring, Chalmers has also been a finalist in 2002 for the Betty Bowen Memorial Award administered by the Seattle Art Museum and has had pieces accepted for the Polaroid Foundation collection. He took first place awards in the 1999 People's Choice Art Exhibition at the Faner Art Museum (Carbondale, Ill.) and at the 1999 International Photo Imaging and Education Association Competition and won Best of Show at the Associated Artist Gallery in Carbondale in 1998.

Chalmers was also one of 20 graduate students chosen to represent the American Photography Institute, National Graduate Seminar of the NYU Tisch School for the Arts on its 10th anniversary. He was named Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year in the mass communication and media arts college at Southern Illinois University in 1999.

Two more exhibitions are scheduled this year by the Denison Gallery. "Unseen Forces: Re/Creating Human Identity" and "The Path to Enlightenment: Buddha Images from the Denison University Collection" will open on January 30, 2004, in the Gallery. This exhibition results in part from the reorganization work now being done. From April 3 to May 16, 2004, the traditional Denison Senior Exhibition of graduating student's works will be shown.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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