DURHAM, NC.-The exhibition “Fieldwork: Unearthing Stories of North Carolina Agriculture,” featuring photographs and narratives of a few of the thousands of people who provide food to students, staff, and faculty at Duke University, will open with a public reception on November 17, 2005, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Duke’s Faculty Commons.

The exhibit, consisting of 28 large photographs, narrative captions, and explanatory text panels, is timed for opening near the Thanksgiving holiday and will be on display throughout the spring semester at the Faculty Commons dining facility on West Campus, West Union Building (near the Duke Chapel).

The November 17 event will feature local, organic food prepared by Sage and Swift Catering, with remarks from curators and sponsors at 4:30 p.m.

The exhibition grew out of an idea that Sage and Swift Catering owner Amy Tornquist developed after she started purchasing from local and organic farmers for the facilities she manages at Duke, including Faculty Commons. She decided she wanted those growers’ stories told, and she contacted Professor Charlie Thompson of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke, who tied the exhibit to his course “Farmworkers in North Carolina,” taught in partnership with the nonprofit organization Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF).

Thompson’s students documented local agriculture and combined their photographs and interviews with those conducted in 2005 by interns from SAF, who documented stories of workers, many of whom come from Latin America. The result is a broad-reaching portrayal of what’s right and what’s wrong about our agricultural system. The goal of the exhibit is to encourage people to experience food as an entity composed of people’s stories.

The exhibit was made possible with support from the Green Grant Fund, Duke Dining Services, and Sage & Swift Catering. Lyndsey Beutin, Duke alumnae and former SAF apprentice, co-curated the exhibit with Professor Charlie Thompson.