Participation Type
Art
Presentation #1 Title
A Coal Miners Journey
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This project is to make positive change by educating the public about the preservation of cultural information, threatened environments, and social concerns of today’s age and coal mining.
As I was riding two miles into the darkness underground an Eastern Kentucky mountain, I thought about what motivates these men to work their whole lives in a dangerous, environment where the ceiling is so low that they spend their days crawling on their hands and knees. Thinking about a man with a degree in education who has never seen a classroom, and who has worked the mines for 30 years. I thought about his son, a recent business graduate who forsakes the security of a cubicle to labor underground with his father. When asked why, he replied, “I guess it’s in our blood.”
There are very few people that could endure the life of a miner, what these men do everyday to ensure our way of life. This exhibit and film commemorates those men who work far below the mountain, out of sight from everyone. Until now, with broken promises the mines are closing and the men have nowhere to go. Asking, what is next?
This exhibition has a series of Appalachian Coal Photographs, a mock mine, a look into the thoughts of a coal miner with the film: “It’s in Our Blood” A Coal Miner’s Journey, by Cincinnatian Shanon Rice.
Film Link: https://vimeo.com/81355690 Pass: coal
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Shanon R. Rice
I have been an artist, educator, awarding winning filmmaker, and photographer here in Cincinnati for over twenty years. My desire for storytelling and passion for the arts led me to teaching and to concentrate on being an educator and mentor to young photographers and artists, guiding them to achieve their fullest potential.
EduDoc was founded in 2006 and is committed to the preservation of cultural information. Driven by the desire to educate through artistic endeavors, the Foundation seeks to inform students of all ages of lesser-known and vanishing aspects of American culture, using literature, video, photography, and other arts. By bringing this documentation to students, the Foundation hopes to raise interest and appreciation of these cultures in future generations.
Conference Subthemes
Economic Development, Education
A Coal Miners Journey
This project is to make positive change by educating the public about the preservation of cultural information, threatened environments, and social concerns of today’s age and coal mining.
As I was riding two miles into the darkness underground an Eastern Kentucky mountain, I thought about what motivates these men to work their whole lives in a dangerous, environment where the ceiling is so low that they spend their days crawling on their hands and knees. Thinking about a man with a degree in education who has never seen a classroom, and who has worked the mines for 30 years. I thought about his son, a recent business graduate who forsakes the security of a cubicle to labor underground with his father. When asked why, he replied, “I guess it’s in our blood.”
There are very few people that could endure the life of a miner, what these men do everyday to ensure our way of life. This exhibit and film commemorates those men who work far below the mountain, out of sight from everyone. Until now, with broken promises the mines are closing and the men have nowhere to go. Asking, what is next?
This exhibition has a series of Appalachian Coal Photographs, a mock mine, a look into the thoughts of a coal miner with the film: “It’s in Our Blood” A Coal Miner’s Journey, by Cincinnatian Shanon Rice.
Film Link: https://vimeo.com/81355690 Pass: coal
