Free Art Exhibits Feature History of Kent in Photographs

This summer, the Kent State University School of Art Gallery will feature two exhibits with photos from Richard Sweet. 

The first gallery, "A Timeless Community: Photographs by Richard Sweet" runs from June 19 to Aug. 9 on the second floor of the art school. A free, public reception is planned for July 25 from 5 to 7 p.m.

The second exhibit is "Time & Town: A Sweet History of Kent," which runs from July 24 to Aug. 24 at the downtown gallery at 141 East Main St.

Both exhibitions were curated by Brenton Pahl, assistant to the director of the School of Art Galleries.

 “As a photographer for the Record Courier, Richard Sweet was able to chronicle numerous events in the history of Kent and Portage County. While active during the second half of the Twentieth century, Sweet was able to capture times of change in the town. Changes that include the burning down of the department stores on Main Street next to the mill, facelifts to the Pufferbelly and Ray’s Place and the installation of the river’s fountain.   

The vision for these two exhibitions on Sweet was to inform the rotating young adults who call Kent home, and to remind Portage County residents, on how far we have come in the past forty years. The images of this exhibition exemplify how the region is a living and breathing area with a mindset all it’s own. In order to find these images the Kent State University’s School of Art Galleries combed through half a dozen boxes filled to the brim of 35mm and 120mm negatives as well as slides. After retiring in 2004 and passing away the following year, Sweet has left us with an unprecedented record of Kent and Portage County,” Pahl wrote about the exhibits in a prepared statement.

For more information email the director of galleries, Anderson Turner, at haturner@kent.edu or visit http://galleries.kent.edu.