2026 SPE Annual Conference: Catalyst for Exchange
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print this pageLove Canal; Evidence of Injury
Shana Merola
Thursday, March 19 - 3:00PM to 4:00PM
Atlanta 3
In her lecture, Merola will discuss the various way that photography has played a role in her practice as a lens-based media artist. Weaving between different bodies of work, collaborations, and grassroots organizing she makes a case for photography as a tool for liberation. As a legal worker, Merola has documented historic flashpoints for environmental justice movements across the country – from the struggle for water rights in Detroit and Flint, MI – to the frontlines of Standing Rock, ND. In this presentation the artist also explores her current project and investigative research into the ongoing story at Love Canal, NY. Through a combination of surrealist collage, traditional documentary, and oral histories she examines this historic site of ecological disaster which created the Superfund program in North America.
Nestled just outside of Niagara Falls the predominantly working-class community of this sleepy town became headline news when leaking dioxin containers were discovered just beneath the asphalt. Decades earlier a chemical company used this land to cheaply dispose of hazardous waste. By the late 1970's the mothers of Love Canal were reporting extremely high rates of birth defects, miscarriages, and childhood leukemia. Today, wildlife like milkweed and mullein thrive despite elevated toxicity levels that remain ever-present within the landscape. But, in and around the containment zone, are the stories of mothers who fought for the right to a safe and healthy environment. The intersections of race, class, gender, and housing are inextricably linked to the struggle as well, though many of these stories were omitted from the mainstream media narrative.
speaker
Shanna Merola
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