MTSU will host Dallas-based photographic artist Susan kae Grant for an Oct. 8 public lecture.

The Baldwin Photographic Gallery, located in MTSU’s Bragg Media and Entertainment Building, will host a monthlong exhibit of Grant’s “Night Journey” project, which she will discuss in a public lecture from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, in Room 103 inside the Bragg Building.

Susan kae Grant

A reception follows in the gallery, located in Room 269 on the second floor, with both the lecture and reception free and open to the public. A searchable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

Grant is recognized nationally and internationally as an inventive and influential artist, educator, and early proponent of photographic book arts. In 1993, she received funding to conduct research on REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep at the Southwestern Medical Center Sleep Laboratory, Dallas, TX, in collaboration with sleep scientist, Dr. John Herman.

Artist Susan kae Grant photographs shadows of models and props in her studio. When fabricating the environments, she strives to design sets with a sense of mystery and ambiguity to provoke more questions than answers. (Photo courtesy of Susan kae Grant)

Using herself as subject, Grant was tape recorded in the lab on many occasions while awakened from REM sleep. These “awakenings” along with audio recordings and journal sketches provided vivid access to memory and the dream-state. Through a suite of large-scale black and white photographs and a room-size installation with sound recordings, Grant re-creates the fragmented and multisensorial experience of dreaming by combining large-scale photographic murals printed on chiffon fabric with audio recordings of quiet whispered phrases.

Grant holds a Master of Fine Arts and a bachelor’s in photography and book arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She served as head of Photography & Book Arts at Texas Woman’s University, 1981-2017, and was named Cornaro Professor of Art Emerita in 2018.

The “Night Journey” exhibit is on display at the gallery through Nov. 9. Gallery hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays when university classes are in session.

For more information on the Baldwin Photographic Gallery, go to facebook.com/BaldwinPhotoGallery.

Off-campus visitors attending daytime events should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at 1403 E. Main St. or online at www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

— Cathy Sgambati (cathy.sgambati@mtsu.edu)