Exhibitions
and Displays
The Library
welcomes the opportunity
to provide local artists the opportunity to exhibit their works to the
general public. Exhibits include a wide range of media and
content thus reflecting the diversity and the vibrancy of the artistic
community in Southbridge and Central Massachusetts.
April's Exhibit
Belfast 1972: Photographing the Troubles Curated by John A. Day, Jr.  The
Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to present the photographs of John A.
Day, Jr. A skilled photographer, John has revisited an earlier time
when he was an English major, and pursuing journalism as a career. The
exhibit will run through the month of April and is accessible during
library opening hours. A reception will be held on Thursday, April 4th
from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. All welcome! Light refreshments will be
provided by the Friends of Jacob Edwards Library.
In
late June of 1972, John Day traveled to Northern Ireland with a college
classmate, Richard Dunne, with press passes in hand to cover "The
Troubles," as the conflict there was known. The student journalists
experienced life first hand having a keen sense of where the action
was.
"On
July 21st, we were three blocks away from the Oxford St. bus station
when a bomb went off, killing six people. I photographed the horror and
ended up hitching a ride in an ambulance to the Royal Victoria Hospital
where I met a group of trauma surgeons. I visited the hospital the next
few days working on a story for the Bulletin.
Striking was the fact that I had seen relatively few reporters at the
bus station; the vast majority had remained at the Europa Hotel,
counting on the ones who had gone to give them the story. It occurred
to me that being a physician might offer a more direct means of making
a positive impact in the world."
And as a result of the experiences in Northern Ireland, John changed the direction of his career, completing his undergraduate degree in English and subsequently medical
school, as well. After medical residency, he spent the next 33 years of
his life as a Pulmonary and Critical Care doctor in Boston, Worcester,
Putnam, and Providence, in that order. "Late at night, in my office at
work or at home making phone calls to patients, I would look often at
the few prints on my wall from Belfast, think of the extraordinary
people I had met there, and hope I’d be given a chance one day to print
them up again. Richard Dunne never got that chance, having died in a
plane crash on Cape Cod in 1997. This exhibition is in his memory."
.
- John M. Lewis (May)
- Artul Friends Raffle (June)
- Isabella Maluf (July)
- Sylvia Bicki (August)
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