The Learning Tree

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© Gillian Laub, courtesy of Benrubi Gallery.

"Amber and Reggie, Mount Vernon, Georgia, 2011," inkjet print.

Racial segregation was alive and well in 2001 when photographer and filmmaker Gillian Laub visited Mount Vernon, Georgia, to document the lives of teenagers both black and white. The initial visit by the UW alum to explore a community that held two proms — one each for black students and white students — led to a decade’s worth of study of the town’s segregation practices. The Chazen exhibit Southern Rites, organized by the International Center for Photography in New York, was drawn from Laub’s photo essay for The New York Times Magazine and an HBO documentary that scrutinized the community. As a result of Laub’s work, the two proms were integrated in 2009. Two years later a young black man, a subject in Laub’s study, was shot to death by an older white man, letting the photographer know that Mount Vernon’s unsettled race relations went far beyond high school rituals.

press release: January 25 to May 12 | Pleasant T. Rowland Galleries: Southern Rites

Laub is a 1997 graduate of UW–Madison (BA, Comparative Literature) and studied photography at International Center of Photography in New York. Laub directed the 2015 HBO documentary Southern Rites. A catalogue also accompanies the exhibition.

Southern Rites is organized by the International Center of Photography, New York. Funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Free Public Programs

Thursday, January 24, 2019: Opening reception 

5:30 p.m. A conversation with Gillian Laub and Chazen Director Amy Gilman, Chazen Auditorium.

6:30–8 p.m. Reception: refreshments, live music, cash bar. Mead Witter Lobby.

Thursday, February 7, 2019, 7–8:30 p.m. Film - African-American Pioneers: Within Our Gates, Chazen Auditorium.

Saturday, February 9, 2019, 12–2 p.m. Art Spin celebrates Black History month with live performances by Black Star Drum Line, Mead Witter Lobby.

Thursday, February 21, 2019, 6–8 p.m. Film and talk - African American Pioneers: The Learning Tree with talk by Steve Ryfle, Chazen Auditorium.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019, 6–8 p.m. Southern Rites screening followed by Q&A with Gillian Laub and Lisa Heller, Marquee Theater, Union South; 8–9 p.m. Public reception hosted by the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association.