Written by Allison Barr
Photography by Jonathan Roensch and Ugo Akabike
Modeled by Braxton Williams
The Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum, known as JSMA to those who spend a little bit too much time on campus, has recently become a host to a dedicated group of students who curate their own exhibits. Don’t Touch my Hair, a showcase that emphasized the cultural importance and opened up a discourse about the politics behind hair, showed from February 2018-May 2018. It received so much praise that many members of the same team are back for more. Their second project, Common Thread, tells the stories of those of marginalized groups, and how they present themselves through their fashion publicly in Oregon, versus a private sphere. The two differing styles of each subject are compared through the powerful medium of photography.
Taite Stull, Cassidy Shaffer, and Kristen Clayton, have been the hard working members behind the scenes of this exhibit. They brought on undergraduate students Jasmine Jackson, Ugo Akabike, and Jonathan Roensch as their visual team. Together, the six have created powerful images of their subjects.
Featured subject, Laura Popescu, junior at UO, says about about the importance of highlighting these issues, “I think it's a subtle problem that people don’t really recognize. I think people who don't identify as a person of color may not realize that we shift our identities on a day to day basis to fit the norm sometimes. It's important that people recognize that we as these individuals are working towards finding ourselves in our clothing."
You can find the Common Thread May 15th - September, 8th 2019, in the Jordan Schnitzer Art Museum on the UO campus. The opening reception will be held on Thursday May, 16th from 5:00-7:00, and is free and open to the public.
