Spending 20 years documenting the lives of the First Nation Algonquin people of Barrier Lake, Quebec, Syracuse photographer Michael Greenlar developed a connection with Kokom (Grandmother) Lena Jerome Nottaway and her 15 children.

“I can’t even explain what it feels like to have this project come to fruition after all these years,” Greenlar said.

In his project, Greenlar spent time with the family to learn who they were, and built their trust. After spending time with the four-generation family, Greenlar’s collection is now on display at ArtRage Gallery through March 23.

Inspired by Syracuse Cultural Workers’ national promotion of social justice, Kimberley McCoy, ArtRage’s community engagement organizer, said they wanted to create a space for the Syracuse community to experience artwork dedicated to various social justice and environmental issues.

“We are looking for a diversity of lots of things — of artists, of media, of issues that we think the work is covering,” McCoy said.

The opening reception for Greenlar’s exhibition was held this past weekend at the Skä•noñh Center, a Haudenosaunee Heritage Center, that ArtRage partnered with. Daughters of Nottaway attended Saturday’s reception to appreciate Greenlar’s work.

ArtRage works with artists like Greenlar to showcase progressive art that inspires resistance and promotes social awareness by encouraging cultural change, according to its website. Greenlar’s project is one of ArtRage’s several seasonal exhibits that shed light on various sociopolitical issues.

“It’s a place where it’s not just art for art’s sake, but it’s art with something else behind it that can generate a conversation and create a dialogue,” McCoy added.

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In Greenlar’s book, “Kokom Lena of the First Nation Algonquin,” Oren Lyons, a member of the Iroquois Confederacy and advocate of indigenous religions, wrote the foreword and commended the impact his work has had on showing a side of the First Nation Algonquin not often conveyed through mainstream media.

“I extend my deep appreciation and respect to Mike Greenlar for his insightful perceptions, courage and dedication to chronicle Lena’s contribution to the moral side of humanity’s story,” Lyons wrote.

Bob Gates, a member of ArtRage’s board of directors and a former professor of English at Syracuse University, said he admires Greenlar’s dedication to his project. Gates is familiar with Greenlar’s work from his previous exhibition at ArtRage — a 10-year project that focused on the effects of the Vietnam War in Laos — along with his photography in The Post-Standard.

“He immerses himself into the subject and that’s the only way to get really good photographs,” Gates said.

Greenlar will deliver an artist talk at ArtRage on March 4 at 7 p.m., providing visitors with insight into the creative process behind his work.

“Artists, being creative beings, can envision and imagine other ways of being that sometimes the rest of us can’t,” McCoy said. “I hope that when people come to the gallery, that they’re able to be reflective and to really understand why the art is created.”

Published on February 5, 2019 at 9:37 pm