In celebration of Black History Month,

The Preacher and His Congregation: Photographs by James Perry Walker, From the Collection of the Flint Institute of Arts

February 7 - March 19, 2005

The Preacher and His Congregation, a collection of photographs by James Perry Walker, grants the viewer a glimpse into the lives, habits and beliefs of the people of Marshall County, Mississippi and Fayette County, Tennessee in the rural south. A native of Marshall County, Walker returned after college graduation to request a photographic essay on the Gatewood Baptist Church Preacher Reverend Cole and his Congregation. This photo essay, taken between 1975 and 1981, documents the circuit preacher Reverend Cole and his community during the last six years of his life.

In describing Reverend Coles preaching, Walker recalls that "at times he whirls and declaims with rapt intensity" to "being a shaman that wrestles with the ropes that harnesses his soul to spirits of another world" to "being the very first priest that woos the spirit from the air, performing a rite single-handedly, in his own lifetime, lifting (the people) from the domain of magic and superstition into the greater clarity and power of true religion."

The exhibition will be on display at the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University from February 7 through March 19, 2005 in the Museum Reception Hall. Museum hours are Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. For more information, please call 989-964-7125 or mfsm(at)svsu.edu.