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The need for more inclusive workplaces for all is undeniable — 91% of workers have experienced discrimination related to race, gender, disability, age, or body size, and 94% of workers care about feeling a sense of belonging at work. But anti-DEI rhetoric and backlash has sunk support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to a low of only 52% of American workers...

Featuring Work by Photographer Phyllis Crowley
 
Photographer Phyllis Crowley asks CAN YOU FREE A MIND? in this new exhibit at City Gallery. Her latest collection of work will be on view from April 4 - April 27, with a Reception and Artist Talk on Sunday, April 6, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. The artist will also be in the Gallery on Sunday, April 27 to meet with visitors and answer questions.
 
During her husband’s recent health crisis, Crowley, a well-known New Haven photographer, says she had neither the physical space nor the mental state to photograph as usual. Instead, she followed her visual instincts and shot what was around her, wherever she was, with her iPhone.
 
The result and the “story” is a visual essay, told through black and white images, with very high contrast and a lot of black. The connections are visual and emotional, the subject matter jumps around, and the images go from representational to abstract and even surreal. “The cell phone enabled quick, spontaneous responses to any moment; that would not have happened with a regular single-lens reflex camera,” she says. By combining images and grouping them, Crowley moves the viewer beyond focusing on a single subject, and encourages them to form their own concepts of experience and memory.
 
“The disconnects, the upside down and sideways, the range from particular to enigmatic, the references to hiding and disruption, are simply one reflection of the chaotic, irrational and unpredictable world in which we now find ourselves,” she says.
 
A photographer from a very young age, Crowley has more than 40 years of professional and fine art experience. She taught photography at Norwalk Community College and the University of Bridgeport, and now teaches at Creative Arts Workshop in New Haven. She has exhibited across the country and has twice been awarded an Artist Fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts.
 
CAN YOU FREE A MIND? is free and open to the public. City Gallery is located at 994 State Street, New Haven, CT 06511. Gallery hours are Friday - Sunday, 12 p.m. - 4 p.m., or by appointment. For further information please contact City Gallery, info@city-gallery.org, www.city-gallery.org.