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The Power and the Redemption
“Boy on Balcony, Haiti, 2007,” by Enna Deer, Chromogenic Print
How connected are we really? Most people will say by six degrees but in the Wood River Valley it's often more like two degrees. Indeed whenever a meaningful event occurs, whether wonderful or traumatic, we feel connected to one another. After the Haiti earthquake, a local son of Sun Valley became one our direct connections to Haiti through his valley-based non-profit The Honor and Respect Foundation (HRF).
The Anne Reed Gallery will present a special group exhibition featuring art that takes us beyond our own borders at The Open Room in Ketchum this Friday, Feb. 12. The opening night reception will be held from 5-8 p.m. at The Open Room and the exhibit will remain on display through April 1.
“Beyond” was curated by Barbi Reed, and inspired by a wide range of art that includes images from Cuba, Haiti, Argentina and Cambodia as well as works by such prominent artists as Robert Kelly, and April Gornik, whose work is held in many public collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Modern Art.
Particularly poignant are two photographs taken in Haiti in 2007, by Barbi Reed, under the nom de plume of Enna Deer. After Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake on Jan. 12, these images inspired Claudia Aulum, owner of The Open Room, to turn the exhibition's opening into a fundraising event for the Honor and Respect Foundation, a non-profit based in Hailey, Idaho.
The Honor and Respect Foundation (formerly known as Friends of SODA) was founded by Reed Lindsay, Barbi Reed's son, to support several impoverished Port-au-Prince neighborhoods as they identified their needs and implemented changes themselves. Reed, currently Washington Bureau Chief for TelesurTV, flew to Hispaniola the night following the quake. He took a taxi from the Dominican Republic to Haiti and has been there ever since, reporting for Telesur and helping to organize efforts on behalf of his Haitian friends and the neighborhoods which have held his attention, and that of HRF, for the past five years. For Lindsay’s dispatches and videos from Haiti, visit
From Haiti to Home
At the Open Room, Aulum is focused on a nation’s redemption. “This exhibition's final intent has become an attempt to reach beyond and to celebrate the courage and resilience of the Haitian spirit,” she said.
A percentage of the proceeds from sales of art will be given by Anne Reed Gallery and The Open Room to the Honor and Respect Foundation, which will direct all donations to Haiti.
Wood River Valley residents Joel and Jeanne Vilinsky who volunteered in Port-au-Prince for HRF, will be in attendance at The Open Room during the gallery walk to share their personal experiences in Haiti and to answer questions. The show will be accompanied by the sounds of Haitian music, refreshments and light snacks served by students from The Community School.
For more information call 208-726-3036.
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