News
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — After coming across coloring books, clothing and a diary, local artist and photographer Patrick G. Metoyer learned details of a woman who once camped with a child on Watson Island. He wonders what became of the family who left remnants of their life along the Colorado riverbank.
Abandoned shopping carts full of ragged belongings, children's books, a Tinkerbell comforter, a library card, bags of pet food — those are among the items Metoyer documented last year as Watson Island underwent a transformation.
Non-native plants like tamarisk and Russian olive are being removed to allow native species more room to grow, and some homeless people who had camped amidst the brush have moved on.
Metoyer is showing more than 30 of his photographs at a First Friday exhibit titled “Watson Island Revisited” tonight, Friday, Jan. 6, at Planet Wines, 420 Main St.
The Watson Island complex, north of the Colorado River, is the subject of a year-long documentary photography project by Metoyer.
The project is the result of Metoyer enrolling in Colorado Mesa University's Golden Scholar program and taking Steve Maxwell's documentary photography class.
Among the items strewn along the riverbank was a photograph of a baby.
“I expect that viewers of my images will share my emotional experience and wonder what became of this family,” Metoyer said in a press release about the exhibit.
Motivated by the discovery that a mother and children had inhabited the site, Metoyer said he'll donate 20 percent of sales of any of the photographs to HomewardBound of the Grand Valley as well as the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens, 641 Struthers Ave.
Also for sale will be copies of Maxwell's calendar featuring homeless individuals of the Grand Valley. Calendar sales also benefit the local homeless shelter.
The exhibit will be up through the month of January.
The reception at Planet Wines will include a wine-tasting and opening reception for Metoyer from 6-9 p.m.
Abandoned shopping carts full of ragged belongings, children's books, a Tinkerbell comforter, a library card, bags of pet food — those are among the items Metoyer documented last year as Watson Island underwent a transformation.
Non-native plants like tamarisk and Russian olive are being removed to allow native species more room to grow, and some homeless people who had camped amidst the brush have moved on.
Metoyer is showing more than 30 of his photographs at a First Friday exhibit titled “Watson Island Revisited” tonight, Friday, Jan. 6, at Planet Wines, 420 Main St.
The Watson Island complex, north of the Colorado River, is the subject of a year-long documentary photography project by Metoyer.
The project is the result of Metoyer enrolling in Colorado Mesa University's Golden Scholar program and taking Steve Maxwell's documentary photography class.
Among the items strewn along the riverbank was a photograph of a baby.
“I expect that viewers of my images will share my emotional experience and wonder what became of this family,” Metoyer said in a press release about the exhibit.
Motivated by the discovery that a mother and children had inhabited the site, Metoyer said he'll donate 20 percent of sales of any of the photographs to HomewardBound of the Grand Valley as well as the Western Colorado Botanical Gardens, 641 Struthers Ave.
Also for sale will be copies of Maxwell's calendar featuring homeless individuals of the Grand Valley. Calendar sales also benefit the local homeless shelter.
The exhibit will be up through the month of January.
The reception at Planet Wines will include a wine-tasting and opening reception for Metoyer from 6-9 p.m.
GO&DO
WHAT: “Watson Island Revisited” — First Friday photography exhibit by Patrick G. Metoyer
WHEN: 6-9 p.m. Fri., Jan. 6 WHERE: Planet Wines, 420 Main St. INFO: 424-5432, or 720-272-7394 |
