The Naming Project: The Face of Homelessness
by Liz Alcalde

Anita Humpage and Tiffany Hitt are undergraduate students majoring in Art Education.  As part of their course work for Art Ed 640: Critical Dialogues About Art, Humpage and Hitt created a photography and video exhibition documenting the faces of homelessness in Columbus, Ohio.

“We wanted to create an art intervention that would make visible the stories of individuals who find themselves without a place to call home.” explained Humpage.

Their vision, The Naming Project, was on display at the Global Gallery in Clintonville, 3535 North High Street, on Tuesday, November 8.  The artists asked visitors to donate a new pair of gloves, socks, hat or other non-perishable item, or a monetary donation in exchange for “admission” to the art exhibit.  All donations went to the Community Shelter Board.

The Naming Project documents the lives of people who live on the streets in and around Columbus.  Humpage and Hitt spent months moving around the city, meeting multiple individuals and documenting their stories.  The result of their research and artistic explorations is a series of photographs consisting of visual representations that capture the narratives of the men and women that so generously shared their stories.

Hitt sums up their experience, “We believe that art is a practice that can be used, not only to raise awareness of precarious social situations, but also as a conduit for activism, actions that can be used to bring about social justice.”

Humpage and Hitt developed The Naming Project as part of Art Ed 640: Critical Dialogues About Art.  Adetty Pérez Miles, visiting assistant professor, developed the course with the aim to challenge students to think critically about the function of art in society.

“Through art, we hope to make untold stories visible and give people occasion to reflect, to pay attention to those individuals that often remain invisible and nameless in our society, “said Hitt.