New exhibit, 'Saved,' featured in Haas Gallery

“Saved,” an exhibit of photographs by visiting artist Jody Servon that record precious mementos and family heirlooms, will open Tuesday, Feb. 16, in the gallery of Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania’s Hass Center for the Arts. A reception will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with Servon and Lorene Delany-Ullman, a writer from University of California, Irvine, speaking about “Saved” at 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public and closes March 16.

“This project documents objects that people save from loved ones that have passed away,” Servon said. “These photographs not only memorialize the lives of their former owners, but also record objects ripe with tales of their own. I am interested in the storied histories of these treasured items, from humble to magnificent.”

Photographed items include a worn baby shoe, Boy Scout shirt, tea cup, matchbook and dog collar.

Servon is an assistant professor and director of the Catherine J. Smith Gallery at Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C. Her work has been included in exhibitions throughout the United States and Canada at venues such as University of Tulsa (Okla.), Space 1026 in Philadelphia and Tucson (Ariz.) Museum of Art. She earned a master’s degree from the University of Arizona and a bachelor’s degree from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Lorene Delany-Ullman, who is currently collaborating on a book with Servon, has been published most recently in Chaparral, Burnside Review, Harpur Palate, Upstreet and Versal. Her poems were included in the anthology, “Beyond Forgetting: Poetry and Prose about Alzheimer’s Disease.” She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of California, Irvine.

Haas Gallery is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 2 p.m. For more information, contact Lee Millard at lmillard@bloomu.edu or (570) 389-4708.

Front page photo courtesy of http://www.southernartistry.org/Jody_Servon