The Lowell Sun
May 07, 2004

'Boundaries to Bridges'
Revolving Museum exhibit highlights the ties that bring immigrant groups together

By KATHLEEN DEELY, Sun Staff

LOWELL When artist Dana Salvo knocked on doors across Lowell with a camera in tow this winter, he found little resistance.

"I'm always surprised by it," said the Gloucester photographer whose pictures of Lowell's immigrant community will be on display at the Revolving Museum's Boundaries to Bridges exhibit when it opens tomorrow.

Salvo chronicles the home life of cultural groups and how they personalize domestic space with ordinary tchotchkes. His fascination with "home altars" led him on global quest that included his time in Lowell.

Setting up an old tripod-mounted camera in the homes of Southeast Asian, Italian and Greek families was "a big endeavor that took hours," he said.

The results are color photos of rooms filled with collages of Bangkok, France, Washington, Hindu deities, Kennedy, Nixon, Osama bin Laden and "all kinds of things," said Salvo.

The similarities that link different cultures together in Lowell define the first photography show at the Revolving Museum. Also shedding light on the topic are local photographers Jim Higgins, Anna Isaak-Ross, Ronald Weldon Cowie, Ahmed Abdalla and Meghan Kriegel.

Given carte blanche, Kriegel turned the camera on herself, sort of.

"I thought to myself, I am essentially an immigrant to Lowell. While we don't have the disadvantages some of the others have, we have the same issues in coming to a new place," said Kriegel, who captured a handful of local artists draped in their artwork.

People who know Lowell artists Steve Syverson, Keith Wasserman, Nadya Volicer and Ted Lavash will see them in a new light. A photo of Syverson's torso is melded into one of his stone sculptures. Filmmaker Wasserman is dressed in nothing but film. Carpenter Volicer is draped in splinters of wood and Lavash is covered by his own nude pictures. These 96 pictures are mounted in a dresser and kitchen cabinet to "give a sense of home," said Kriegel, who moved to Lowell two years ago.

The camera is also a bridge that Lowell High School students used to break down the boundaries of high school angst. Cowie and museum director Jerry Beck coached students in the art of the camera this winter giving them assignments to document their last hour on earth.

Those snapshots will be placed around the museum and in the gigantic head in the courtyard. Cowie, a Boston photographer, took black-and-white portraits of students that reflect their often-hidden innocence.

Higgins and Isaak-Ross, a father-and-daughter team, capture Cambodian youths playing basketball. Abdalla's "Tower of Pigeons" is a symbol of peace.

"It's like seeing a neighborhood on a wall. These photographers have captured a moment with the emotive quality that a picture can convey," said Beck. "This is a show that will bring people together."

The opening reception for Boundaries to Bridges is tomorrow night from 6-9. The exhibit runs through Sept. 12.