For Immediate Release	Contact: Carol O'Sullivan
Oct 16, 2005	412-681-5449 x205
Pittsburgh Filmmakers Announces Neil Newfield Exhibition (Pittsburgh, PA) — Filmmakers Galleries will feature the photographs of Neal Newfield, from October 28 through December 4. Making Ends Meet: West Virginia Community Voices, is a series of black and white documentary images of West Virginians with corresponding statements from the subjects. On Friday, October 28, 2005 a reception will be held from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. It is free and open to the public. In the tradition of Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans, Making Ends Meet gives both a face and a voice to poverty in the Appalachian region. The images and text address issues of housing, transportation, health care, work and education. Dr. Newfield, an associate professor of social work at West Virginia University, has made this on-going project his life’s work, calling attention to social welfare policy and services to the poor. He is also interested in updating the image of the rural poor. "Many poor have phone lines, electricity, satellite dishes, indoor plumbing, and are more likely to live in a trailer than a split log cabin in the woods," he explains. "Contemporary images of rural Appalachian poor frequently ignore these facts for a more quaint and nostalgic view of poverty." Through his extensive collection of photographs (approx. 100 in this show), Newfield hopes the viewer can see our West Virginia neighbors with new eyes. Newfield’s most recent exhibitions have been at the WVU College of Creative Arts Mesaros Gallery (March 2004), and at the Ogelbay Institute’s Stifel Fine Arts Center in Wheeling (November 2003). He is a recipient of the Pittsburgh Three Rivers Arts Festival Leonard Schugar Award for Black &White Photography. He is also a columnist and contributing editor for Social Work Today Magazine. Filmmakers Galleries are located at 477 Melwood Avenue, North Oakland. Open Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00, and weekend evenings. For more information call 412-681-5449 or go to www.pghfilmmakers.org.