- Note: this story was updated to reflect the actual date of the opening, due to rainy weather. The exhibition opened with a walk-through socially-distanced celebration on Sunday, Sept. 27, 4-6 p.m.
The residents of Westerwood, the 101-year-old neighborhood just to the north of UNCG, are presented in a unique outdoor photo exhibition along the Lake Daniel Greenway. The project is called “Westerwood in Quarantine.”
The idea was inspired by the national trend of porch portraits, and the time capsule-esque project focuses on neighborhood residents during the first month of the COVID-19 pandemic shelter-at-home period. It will become part of the Greensboro History Museum’s “History Happening Now” project.
The exhibition was unveiled publicly Sunday, Sept. 27, in the form of large slip-resistant vinyl stickers attached to the sidewalk over a half-mile path from the Lake Daniel Park basketball court to Josephine Boyd St.
Fifty families or individuals volunteered to participate, and a number of Spartans are among them. In addition to appearing on the sidewalk decals, the photographs will be featured in an accompanying book, which also includes personal reflections on the time period captured in the images. The project was produced by Cecelia M. Thompson, executive director of Action Greensboro, photographer Betsy Blake, and graphic designer Anne Cassity, with support from the Cemala foundation and in collaboration with Spartan Printing, the Westerwood Neighborhood Association, and the Greensboro Historical Museum.
As the exhibition opened Sunday, Sept. 27, viewers were invited to walk the Lake Daniel Park Greenway to view the photographs as a socially-distanced celebration from 4 to 6 p.m. The decals will remain in place for two months for park-goers, neighbors, and anyone who would like to check out the exhibition.
Find the following Spartans on the Greenway, in the pages of the book, online here: westerwoodinquarantine.com.
Emily Janke, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies and Evan Goldstein, Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability, page 4
Amy Vines, Department of English, and Martijn van Hasselt, Department of Economics, page 6
Mary Lee Porterfield ’16 MS, ’20 PhD, page 15
Sarah McGuire ’14 MPA, page 18
Devin Miller ’03 and Madison Miller, current student, page 22
Maggie Tolodzeicki, UNCG Online, page 49
Steve Cushman ’02 MFA, page 58
Chris Wilson ’98, page 66
Susan Kirby-Smith, University Communications ’06 MA, Josh Watson ’08 MFA, page 72
Edna Tan, Teacher Education & Higher Education, page 78
Dr. Emily Janke offered the following reflection:
“This has been an interesting project to participate in because it happened during a very different time than what we are in now – even though many of us are essentially still sheltering in place. You can see from the timeline in the book that the project occurred prior to George Floyd’s murder. Since that time, I have been wondering about how different the book would have been in terms of our statements and what we had in our photos. What images would have been on our masks (Black Lives Matter, or the names of persons murdered by police?) or which signs might have been in our yards in front of our porches?
While I am grateful for those memories of the early days of sheltering in place, I think about what it means for Westerwood neighbors to continue to be a part of history – and how we tell our stories now differently than we have in the past.”
Story by Susan Kirby-Smith, University Communications
Photography by Betsy Blake
