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Inside the Springs features photographs by Wing Young Huie. The photos will be installed along Highway 12 between Verano and Mountain Avenues.
“Inside the Springs,”’ an exhibit of photographs by Wing Young Huie, opens in two distinct manifestations on Thursday, Sept. 4. A public photo installation is being displayed in storefront windows, printed on vinyl banners and blown-up on billboards along a one-mile stretch of Highway 12 in Boyes Hot Springs, where the pictures were taken. Additional images will be exhibited at the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art in Sonoma, through Oct. 18.
When the Minneapolis-based photographer was commissioned in 2006 by the Sonoma Community Center to turn his camera on the people of Boyes Hot Springs, he had never visited the Sonoma Valley, let alone the town to be featured in the project. He decided not to research the area so that when he started to take pictures it would be with a fresh and objective artist’s eye.
“I arrived last October anxious to get started and after a meeting at the Community Center, I thought I’d stop in the Sonoma Visitor’s Center,” said Huie during a phone interview from his St. Paul gallery. “When I asked for information about Boyes Hot Springs, I was offered a somewhat blank stare. Something told me the town I was to shoot was quite different than Sonoma.”
The award-winning artist is known for his public art projects that capture the essence of a neighborhood by showing the reality of its residents’ lives. In 1993, he pointed his camera at an inner-city neighborhood in St. Paul and saw a microcosm of the U.S. The resulting “Frogtown” launched Huie’s fine art career. “Lake Street USA,” which is a peek into the cultural diversity of a gritty urban stretch of St. Paul, transformed six miles of Lake Street into an open-air art gallery.
“I was impressed by Sonoma’s wealth with its multi-million dollar homes, five-star hotels and up-scale shops, but as you drive out of town and see the McDonald’s and a trailer park, you can sense a cultural divide,” said Huie. “The transition is sudden and jarring. The disparity is noticeable.”
Huie wandered the streets of Boyes Hot Springs taking more than 2,000 photographs. Many residents were happy to participate and some even invited the 53-year-old photographer into their homes; others were reluctant be to photographed. Mario Castillo of Vineyard Worker’s Services acted as a guide. He showed Huie the area, introducing him to his family and friends. The resulting black-and-white pictures would pull focus on the cultural and socio-economic aspect of life in the Springs.
During the shoot, issues of immigration emerged. They are a common thread in Huie’s populist photographs and were of serious concern during his youth. The photographer’s father was born in China, emigrated to the U.S when he was 16 and moved back and forth until finally settling in the States with his wife and five children. Huie is the only American-born member of the family, the rest of whom were in the U.S. illegally until awarded citizenship through an amnesty program.
While a sophomore at the University of Minnesota, Huie bought his first camera and set about teaching himself to use it. He had the opportunity to travel to Hong Kong and while there honed his craft by taking hundreds of snapshots. After he graduated with a degree in journalism, he used his impressive portfolio of photographs to get work as a commercial photographer. After the success of “Frogtown,” he decided to focus on fine art photography with much success.
“I try not to get in the way of how people look at my work,” Huie explained. “With most photographs you know what the photographer is trying to tell you. While selecting the photos for ‘Inside the Springs,’ I chose those that were most interesting – regardless of what I think they say.”
“As the center’s mission includes the exploration of the Valley’s cultural life, we were thrilled to have an artist of Wing’s stature help us explore Boyes Hot Springs in great depth,” said Sonoma Community Center executive director Kathy Swett. “The project was originally funded by the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance, but many others joined the effort. Small businesses in the Springs have offered funding, which makes the project even more heartfelt.”
Simultaneous receptions for “Inside the Springs” will be held from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4, in two locations – at the Sonoma Valley Grange Hall, 18627 Hwy. 12, Boyes Hot Springs and the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, 551 Broadway, Sonoma, happen Thurs., Sept. 4, 4:30-6:30 p.m. A shuttle service between the two receptions will be provided.
