Portraits from the Past

Family history photographs are “the easiest way to break down all the barriers,” O’Connor explained. “They’re non-threatening, they’re celebratory. We’re here, our ancestors helped get us here, we triumphed over a great deal. The millennium is a perfect time to celebrate their triumphs.” Maybe you, coworkers or students you know already have launched images of relatives into cyberspace, via an intriguing San Diego Mesa College project. If not, maybe you soon will be.

At press time, Mesa College faculty and staff were working diligently to go national with their incredibly successful family photographic history contest/exhibit model. At the Mesa art gallery for one week in November, the campus exhibit opened to rave reviews and drew more than 1,000 persons from the campus and San Diego community. This was followed by Faces of San Diego 2000, a countywide version, that was launched on millennium eve above the Star of India at San Diego Harbor.

Meanwhile, interest has been mounting throughout the nation. National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chairman Bill Ferris told the San Diego Union-Tribune, “This project is central to a major effort we are launching…We hope to connect the humanities in a very personal way with every American.”

A nationwide Faces is not a certainty, but a strong indicator that it will take place is the recent decision by the NEH to award the Mesa group a $40,000 planning grant. If grant monies are obtained, a national Faces of America is expected be launched in August 2000 with Mesa College professors Colleen O’Connor, Mary Lou Locke, Pam Chapman and Pat Olafson at the helm.

“The concept behind this project is a profound one, a concept that promotes a sense of history through the personal chronicles of families. It is amazing to see on one level how different these family stories are from one another, while on another level how remarkably similar they are. These photographs are as valid as any history book could ever be in showing the origins of the American people,” said Constance Carroll, president of Mesa College. Carroll chairs the national advisory board for both Faces of America and Faces of San Diego 2000.

Also working on the project are the UC San Diego Civic Collaborative and the San Diego Historical Society. The UC organization is maintaining the Faces of San Diego 2000 website, while the Historical Society is scheduled to host the “Best Of” the countywide exhibit in November 2000 at its gallery in Balboa Park.
The family photo history project was history professor O’Connor’s idea. In 1998, she spearheaded the original campuswide contest and exhibit at Mesa. Based on its success, O’Connor enlisted the assistance of the campus community to produce a second Mesa College contest/exhibit last November. This one was coordinated by professors O’Connor and Olafson.

Both Mesa exhibits are displayed on the college’s website at www.sdmesa.edu. “They are truly a portrait of America,” said Carroll. The Mesa website also carries a link to the countywide exhibit. For both the campus and countywide contests, the www.facesofsandiego2000.com website was one way to obtain entry forms and submit entries.

On millennium eve, Faces of San Diego 2000 premiered in a dramatic fashion. Images were projected onto the tall, broad sails of the historical Star of India ship, docked at San Diego Harbor. The countywide exhibit featured many of Mesa’s winning photos, some of which were among the images projected on a variety of public buildings throughout the region. Professors Chapman and O’Connor co-director the countywide project.

“We turned the county into an art gallery,” O’Connor remarked. On March 11, family photo projections are planned for the atrium walls of San Diego Superior Court’s complex in South Bay during open house festivities.

Meanwhile, the San Diego Port District also plans additional projections for Lindbergh Field’s baggage claim area and other locations.

If given the nod by the NEH, the national event will play out from August 2000 through August 2001.

Student Demertrio Sparacino's grandfather began a life-long passion for the violin at an early age. He is pictured here in 1912 in Brooklyn, New York.

For more photos, visit the Mesa College website. click on Faces of San Diego 2000.