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Ohio Communities transitioning away from coal explored in new exhibition on campus

Aug. 23, 2022
Farewell Transmission exhibition debuts on campus this semester.

A new exhibition Farewell Transmission: Community Resilience amid the End of Coal in Ohio debuts this week (August 23) at the Hopkins Hall Gallery through September 16, with a companion exhibit at Thompson Library Special Collections through the end of February 2023.

Farewell Transmission is a multidisciplinary installation exploring how ethnographic field research conducted in Ohio coal communities can be transformed and animated through exhibition in gallery spaces. Coal-related historical and contemporary photographs, books, and documents, as well as interview excerpts from coal industry employees and community members are on display.

Learn more about how to visit the exhibition at Hopkins Hall Gallery here and the companion exhibit at Thompson Library.

Farewell Transmission: Community Resilience amid the End of Coal in Ohio is a collaboration between the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), the Department of Geography, the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts, the Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University Extension, and the Ohio State University Libraries.

“Many Ohio communities are grappling with the coal transition and we wanted to create a space to tell their story and reflect on where the communities have been and what might come next,” said Jeffrey Jacquet, SENR associate professor of rural and natural resource sociology.  

The exhibit collects and archives seldom seen historical images from Ohio, with a focus on Coshocton, Noble, and Belmont counties, along with archival documents and contemporary fine arts photography. The exhibit is to travel to the three case study communities over the next year, along with a theatrical performance based on the interview data under development in the Department of Theatre, Film and Media Arts at The Ohio State University. Jacquet, along with research photographer William Sharp and graduate students Brian Capobianco and Kathryn Finneran have been visiting, photographing, and performing interviews with residents over the past two years.

Farewell Transmission research and curatorial team from the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), including Kathryn Finneran and Brian Capobianco, both graduate students; Jeffrey Jacquet, associate professor and William Sharp, research photographer.

“Our communities are undergoing big transformations related to energy, and people need a place to reflect on these changes and to eulogize what has been lost,” Jacquet said. “Hopefully, this exhibit plays a small role in helping people from all backgrounds appreciate the scale of transformation our society is facing."

Funding for this project is provided in part by grants from the Ohio State Sustainability Institute and the Battelle Engineering, Technology and Human Affairs (BETHA) Endowment at Ohio State's Office of Research.

Jacquet’s  academic work focuses on energy development, including social impacts from the development of renewables and fossil fuels. He is the editor of Energy Impacts: A Multidisciplinary Exploration of North American Energy Development and leads the Energy Impacts Research Coordination Network, which seeks to foster cross-disciplinary research on energy development.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: 

Jeffrey Jacquet
Jacquet.8@osu.edu