Story by DDNS Reporter Jerry Don Reporter

JONESBORO – KASU is welcoming photographer Art Meripol to Arkansas State University with a reception and “art talk” for his photo exhibit, “We Shall Overcome.”

The reception, hosted by KASU, will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Oct. 29, in the Humanities and Social Sciences building atrium.

The photo exhibit, also located in the humanities building and presented by KASU, comprises 25 photographs of various landmarks along the Civil Rights Trail. The exhibit opened to the public June 13. Meripol said his Civil Rights Trail photography is some of his most rewarding work.

“I’ve had a 50-year career and I’m more proud of this work than probably anything I’ve done in those 50 years, and I wanted to share it,” Meripol said.

LaDawn Lee Fuhr, KASU corporate relations specialist, said Meripol’s background in journalism, passion for history and skill in photography will be of interest to a wide range of people at the “art talk” and reception.

“We feel like bringing this history and this art together is great for the overall community,” Fuhr said. “We’re hoping that people will come out and see it and meet Art, talk to him, and understand his process.”

Fuhr was a major force in bringing Meripol’s photography to A-State. She said the concept of the exhibit and reception blossomed from a conversation between her and Meripol.

After not having seen each other for decades, Fuhr and Meripol reconnected at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock on July 12, 2024. Fuhr said she was impressed by his photography work on “The Official United States Civil Rights Trail: What Happened Here Changed the World,” a book published in 2021 by Alabama tourism director Lee Sentell, and wanted to create an exhibit of his Civil Rights Trail photographs.

Meripol said he knew the project would be worthwhile, but was initially daunted by the work, time and logistics it would take to complete such an exhibit.

“Once I got started, I got pretty excited about the possibilities to go through all the work I did on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail and narrow it down,” Meripol said. “I think that was what intimidated me more than anything was trying to pick 20 or 25 pictures out of all that.”

A majority of the photos featured in the exhibit were taken in 2017, when Meripol said he traveled to 10 states in 12 days to expand coverage of the Civil Rights Trail. Starting in Alabama, where he is based currently, Meripol covered sites in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Kansas, Washington, D.C., Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee.

Landmarks photographed in the exhibit include Little Rock Central High School, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, Edmund Pettus Bridge, Medgar Evers’ home, and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Meripol said some of his favorite career experiences came from his work photographing the Civil Rights Trail.

Meripol said one such experience was his visit to Medgar Evers’ home. Evers, a civil rights activist and the first NAACP field secretary in Mississippi, was assassinated in the driveway of his home in 1963.

Prior to his arrival, Meripol said the caretaker of the home did not know he was coming to take photos. He said she was suspicious at first, but they ended up having a wonderful time together.

“We ended up sitting at the kitchen table at Medgar Evers’ home with her, and she was telling stories of when she was in high school and how they all adored Medgar Evers,” Meripol said. “Just seeing her face as her mind went back to that time and her memories was just magic.”

Evers’ home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2017.

Meripol said another particularly memorable experience was his time in Washington photographing the Martin Luther King Jr. and Lincoln memorials.

Due to flight delays caused by storms, Meripol didn’t arrive in Washington until midnight. He took an Uber at 4 a.m. to the memorial to capture it before sunrise. He said he could not have asked for better lighting and was so inspired in fact, he decided to walk to the nearby Lincoln Memorial.

The Lincoln Memorial is typically a high-traffic tourist attraction, making it hard to photograph. But, due to the storms, Meripol said the memorial was empty, save for one employee.

“A U.S. government employee, an older Black man, was polishing the floors in front of Abraham Lincoln with the morning lights streaming through the columns and lighting him up,” Meripol said. “And I shot maybe one of my single favorite pictures of my life.”

Meripol said he hopes his work inspires viewers to visit the historic landmarks in his photos.

“I have a picture of the Edmund Pettus Bridge where the Bloody Sunday marches happened for voting rights,” Meripol said. “I hope they see that picture and want to go experience the bridge themselves. If they do, they’ll walk over the bridge as the marchers did back in the early sixties.”

Fuhr said Meripol’s photography is important for preserving and highlighting the history of the United States.

“It’s a trite statement, but it’s true. If we don’t know our history, we’re doomed to repeat it,” Fuhr said. “I think any of us have a connection to the history that made this country. I feel it’s important to be seen in such a beautiful way. Because there was such pain, but it’s presented in such an appealing, beautiful way that people can appreciate.”

Meripol said the United States has always acknowledged its failures, but the current political climate is leading to the burial of some history.

“When we start hiding those failures, then you don’t know what needs to be paid attention to,” Meripol said.

In March, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting funding for programs that “degrade shared American values, divide Americans based on race, or promote programs or ideologies inconsistent with federal law and policy.” A few months later, in August, the Wall Street Journal reported that the White House ordered a review of exhibits at the Smithsonian Museum to align with Trump’s interpretation of American history.

Civil rights leaders, advocates and historians have criticized these moves as singling out content on slavery and civil rights in an effort to minimize the contributions of Black Americans.

“There is an effort to try to hide those things, hiding Black history, which is American history. It hurts to see it happen,” Meripol said. “I’m hoping this exhibit will keep people discussing these things and finding ways to move forward.”

Fuhr said KASU’s involvement in creating the exhibit and reception aligns with the non-commercial public radio station’s mission to be a resource for the community.

“This is the kind of thing that public radio does that others don’t really do, which is to go deeper in the world and be able to bring this to the community.”

Mark Smith, KASU station manager, said the radio station is excited to bring Meripol’s photographs to the community. He said viewers will be immersed in the rich history and the craftsmanship on display.

Fuhr said bringing the exhibit to A-State was a joint effort between many individuals, both within and outside of A-State.

The event is sponsored by the A-State Office of the Provost, A-State College of Liberal Arts and Communication, Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and Arisa Health.

Kendall Moody, interior/exterior team leader for facilities management project services at A-State, was responsible for much of the physical preparation regarding the exhibit. Fuhr said his contributions were integral in ensuring the photos were placed properly without damaging the walls and columns of the humanities building.

Fuhr said the exhibit is planned to stay up until early 2026, but is interested in presenting the photos at other venues as a traveling exhibit.

“Each time I look at a photograph, I get a different sense of it, and so I want it up long enough for people to really appreciate it and really feel it,” Fuhr said.

More information on Meripol and KASU can be found at https://artmeripol.com/ and https://www.kasu.org/, respectively.