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WIU Professor Creates Projection Art Exhibit

July 27, 2016

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MACOMB, IL – A Western Illinois University art professor has created a floor-to-ceiling projection art exhibit he calls "We The People." It includes images of young and old, rural and urban, ethically and racially diverse faces projected on a large scale. Short video clips and images of faces will be uploaded during the exhibitions – from phones, cameras and social media.

Professor Bruce Walters said he was inspired to create this exhibition because of his belief that the strength of the nation is its diversity.

"In the face of rising anti-immigrant rhetoric; fear of people different from us; ugly, angry words and actions – I wanted to create something that is positive and inclusive," said Walters.

In the first exhibit, rear projections filled large street-level windows in downtown Iowa City, across the street from the University of Iowa campus, from July 1-3. More than 50 WIU students and faculty from the Macomb and Quad Cities campuses participated. Walters is hoping that the number of participants from WIU will continue to grow.

He hopes the people who see the exhibitions will be intrigued – inspired – by the project's use of technology in combination with its very human message.

"I also intend to create a documentary for additional exhibition proposals," said Walters.

The 21-foot projections will be displayed at the Figge Art Museum in downtown Davenport (IA) on all sides of the museum's monumental Sol LeWitt sculpture – displayed in conjunction with the Preserve Iowa Conference at the museum and several cultural events. The exhibition also coincides with Constitution Day (Sept. 17).

"I am hoping that this project connects with its viewers – communicating a message of inclusion, of assurance that we all belong and contribute to the university, our communities, our nation," said Walters. "I feel that this message is timely and pertinent."

Floor-to-ceiling faces will be displayed on the walls of the second floor gallery of the WIU Art Gallery from Sept. 20-23.

According to Walters, tentative plans are being developed for its display in Barcelona, New York and Albuquerque. He will also create a short documentary for the exhibitions.

"When displayed away from campus, I am hoping that the exhibition will present WIU as technically and artistically innovative," said Walters.

Daniel B. Chapman is Walters' primary partner in this project.

"Daniel has a decade of professional experience as a lighting designer in productions in New York, Boston, Phoenix, Chicago and other major cities," said Walters.

Walters has also been a part of other large projects on campus.

"In the spring semester (on April 8, 2016), I collaborated with faculty, staff and students from music, theatre and physics in an event, 'Gravitational Waves,' that included mapped and blended projections on a circular, 150-foot wall in the Physical Sciences Library in Currens Hall. I primarily worked with Daniel Chapman and graduate students in theatre lighting," said Walters. "We experimented with displaying other projections in the shadows of live, performing musicians. Whereas the inner projections were videos of the earth around us, the overall projections related to recent astrophysical discoveries."

Walters has put together more than 100 art exhibitions and large-scale projections.

"A list of galleries and locations where my artwork have been exhibited includes the Figge Art Museum, (IA); Des Moines Art Center, (IA); Millennium Park, Chicago (IL); Madison Art Center, (WI); Russian Cultural Center, Memphis (TN); Uster Festival of Art and Design, Belfast; Geddes Institute for Urban Research, University of Dundee, Scotland; Tate Modern, London," Walter said.

"I have travelled a great distance artistically and technologically since I first exhibited an animated video in 2007, displayed in conjunction with an exhibition by Deborah Butterfield," said Walters. "I am still growing as an artist – sometimes by leaps and bounds. I honestly believe that my best and most meaningful artwork is ahead."

Walters is asking for anyone's participation in these exhibitions by uploading photos of themselves, friends and family to bd-walters@wiu.edu.

To learn more about "We The People," visit wethepeopleart.com.

Posted By: Katie Hopping (WIUNews@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing