Talk Tompkins - part of the exhibit 150 Years and Counting - opens on Friday, April 4

TALK TOMPKINS, an audio visual installation by photographer Ben Altman, shows and records some of the rich variety of people and communities in Tompkins County. Large portrait photographs show the participants, who also speak in audio recordings about their lives, histories, communities and the public library.  It is part of TCPL's Sesquicentennial exhibit 150 Years and Counting ...




Carl Seamon, Highway Superintendent, Town of Danby

In the creation of TALK TOMPKINS Altman decided to explore the many diverse communities he had discovered on moving to Ithaca that exist in the town and surrounding areas and which he finds often have little contact with or even awareness of one another.  His focus has been on those who are not university or college faculty, or students from elsewhere.

Altman's inspiration for this installation was his work for Peekskill Project V, organized by the Hudson Valley for Contemporary Art, which became a solo show Say Peekskill in January 2013.

TALK TOMPKINS is funded by an Artists in the Community Grant from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County and the installation at TCPL is made possible by a grant from the Gannett Foundation.

A special opening reception will be held during Gallery Opening Night on Friday, April 4 from 5 - 8 PM. Entry to the Library after 5 PM will be through the BorgWarner Community Room door behind the bus shelter on Green Street.