Refugees touched by foster care inspire SLC art exhibit

Refugees touched by foster care inspire SLC art exhibit

(Clinton Whiting)


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SALT LAKE CITY — Inspired by the lives of refugee children who are or have been in the foster care system, a local artist has created a series of paintings that honor their journeys and share their stories.

Clinton Whiting, a Holladay-based artist who also teaches at the Visual Art Institute, was looking for a way to combine his “ideas and deep humanitarian inclinations with (his) artistic processes” when he turned to Brandon Stanton’s interviews and images with Humans of New York, as well as StoryCorps’ work to capture Americans’ stories through interviews. Realizing the power of these narrative works, he adopted interviewing into his own processes. Talking and listening to those around him, he began to learn how many people in his life had been affected by the foster care system and turned to that as his subject.

“This is a subject that goes unnoticed by most people, but I feel that it is a gauge of the respect and love we show for our local community,” he said. “Are we willing to care for the underserved in our community?”

Working with Catholic Community Services, Whiting interviewed two families involved with the refugee foster program, a specialized program which serves the needs of children who have come to the United States unaccompanied by parents or an adult guardian. Most of the children he interviewed were adolescents and some have passed through the system.

“The foster care situation is really an interesting one. To me it's a very real example of community and charity and a microcosm of relationship possibilities,” Whiting said. “Taking ‘strangers’ into your home — and on the other side of it going to live in a ‘stranger’s’ home — with the expectation that life goes forward, is an interesting thing. Everyone I interviewed for the project was quite positive. Even though not all of their experiences were positive.”

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Taking recordings of the interviews back to his studio, parsing out quotes or emotions from these interviews, and drawing images from his reflections, he came to his works in “HOME!/?”

“None of the participants have seen the images as of today, and to be honest I'm not sure if they will be able to tell if an image comes from their interview,” he said. “Some are quite obvious but most are obscured. I want the work to be relatable on a large scale while at the same time personal to the individual. In the end, these are really about relationships and human interaction.”

“HOME!/?” will appear at Art Access Jan. 20–Feb. 10, with a reception on Jan. 20 from 6–9 p.m. Whiting is represented by Evergreen Gallery and his work can also be seen at Every Blooming Thing in Salt Lake City.


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About the Author: Celeste Tholen \--------------------------------

Celeste is the former Deputy Managing Editor at KSL.com and now works in marketing. She spends most of her spare time balancing conflicting interests in the outdoors and movies/television.You can follow Celeste on Twitter: @CelesteTholen

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