America, The Beautifully Forgotten: photos by Lindsay MacKay English
on view September 5 - October 12, 2008 in the 2nd floor gallery.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I grew up in a place that was in the path of the relentless waves of “progress”. With each wave came new business and people but also the residents became more and more indifferent. They didn’t care for anyone but themselves and lacked an interest in maintaining the heritage of their town.
America the beautiful was once the embodiment of unity, small towns, family, and small business. The railroads bolstered the economy of the small town, transporting people and goods. When cars came along, roads were created that followed the rail lines, still connecting town to town. The railroad represented a kind of progress that brought people together and gave them a sense of community.
But after World War II the idea of progress changed. The interstate highway system was built and by taking that instead of the state roads you got where you wanted to go in a shorter time. The new progress focused on making life easy and cutting corners for convenience. The people that used to feed the economy in these towns began to take the interstate and the small towns began to fade. Then the railroad was abandoned for the freight trucks on the interstate.
Without their main means of economy the towns could only sustain themselves for so long. The people and their towns were forgotten. Families who had built homesteads, thinking that would be the home they would live in and pass on to their children, had to leave their homes for cities where there were jobs. Progress took priority over quality of life and so faded America the beautiful.
I have hope though that these places and the cultural fabric they represent will be revived. These photographs speak to a time when there was an equilibrium between the people and their community that is sorely lacking in our society today. My hope is based on the notion that history repeats itself, not as an ever shaking etch-a-sketch. Time moves in only one direction but we can still learn from the past.
