Press RoomPhoenix Art Museum presents photographs and video chronicling the experience of being a teen in the United States
Phoenix Art Museum presents photographs and video chronicling the experience of being a teen in the United States
Apr, 09, 2018
Exhibitions and Special InstallationsPhotography
Phoenix Art Museum presents photographs and video chronicling the experience of being a teen in the United States
To Be Thirteen: Photographs and Videos
by Betsy Schneider will showcase
Guggenheim-grant recipient’s 2012 photographic portraits, video, and written
statements from 250 13-year-olds across the country
PHOENIX (April 9, 2018) – From May 4 through October 14, 2018 in the Norton Family
Photography Gallery, Phoenix Art Museum will present To Be Thirteen: Photographs and Videos by Betsy Schneider, a rich
and nuanced portrait of a group of Americans whose lives began at the turn of
the millennium and who are now coming of age in a tumultuous social and
political climate. This timely exhibition, premiering at a moment in history when
teenagers are igniting discourse and commanding the national spotlight with
their political activism, showcases photographer Betsy Schneider’s project exploring
the experience of being 13 in the United States. In 2012, the Guggenheim-grant
recipient traveled across the country to chronicle the lives of 250
13-year-olds through photography and video, and the resulting exhibition
includes approximately 20 large photographic prints, a 60-minute film running
continuously, and an archive where visitors can view pictures of each of the
13-year-olds, along with some of their statements. The portraits illustrate a
heightened tension between the commonalities and differences among the teenagers,
demonstrating how distinctly the age of 13 can appear on different people, while
highlighting the similarities that every young person experiences as they transition
from childhood to adolescence.
“We
are delighted to present this unique portrait of 13-year-olds across the United
States,” said Amada Cruz, the Sybil Harrington Director and CEO of Phoenix Art
Museum. “To Be Thirteen will resonate
with so many of our visitors, from children to adults of all ages, reminding us
that no matter our differences, we all have shared experiences. We look forward
to sharing this poignant portrait of early adolescence with our community.”
Schneider
says her inspiration for the project came from her children and her own
memories of being 13 years old. “When my daughter started to get close to
adolescence, I realized I was kind of terrified of being a parent of a teenager
. . . so that started me thinking about how I could make art out of this,” she
explained. “Sixth grade and seventh grade were [also] the hardest years of my
life. I was awkward and uncomfortable, and I found out through this project
that I wasn’t alone.”
Schneider
was awarded a Guggenheim grant for her project proposal and spent 2012
traveling around the United States to capture 250 portrait subjects in
photographs and on film. The resulting work illustrates how differently the age
of 13 can appear. Some subjects exude confidence, while others practically
shrink from the camera. Some look mature enough to be mistaken for young
college students, while others dwell in childlike bodies. Some convey a
self-possessed clarity as if motivated for the future, while others appear
comfortably ensconced in the current moment. The subjects’ words heighten these
disparities and further suggest that the 250 portraits represent 250 distinctly
unique people, a group about whom it would be hard to generalize or make
assumptions. And yet, Schneider says, “Every kid seemed to feel like they were
an outsider. I remember [that] so vividly at that age, where you just realize
you’re singular and [your parents] can’t protect you from things anymore. For
me, that feeling of rawness and vulnerability and difference is still in there.”
“With
this work, Schneider questions the simple dichotomies to which adolescence has
often been reduced. The photographs and videos in this exhibition instead embody
the intensity, complexity, and beauty of early adolescence, reflecting our
current moment in which teenagers are taking on a more publicly visible role in
our society,” said Rebecca Senf, chief curator at the Center for Creative
Photography in Tucson and the Museum’s Norton Family Photography curator. “This
exhibition asks us to consider not only the experience of early adolescence but
also how we as adults retain that experience and how it shapes us for the rest
of our lives.”
About the Exhibition
To Be
Thirteen: Photographs and Videos by Betsy Schneider will be on view from May 4 through October 14, 2018 in the Norton
Family Photography Gallery. This exhibition is organized by Phoenix Art Museum;
INFOCUS, the photography support
group of Phoenix Art Museum; and the Center for Creative Photography. It is
made possible through the generosity of donors to the Museum’s annual fund. The
accompanying exhibition catalog, co-published by Phoenix Art Museum and Radius
Books and available at The Museum Store, features all 250
photographic portraits, an essay about the project, and a booklet of the
transcribed words of many of the 13-year-olds. For more details about the
exhibition, please visit phxart.org/exhibition/to-be-13.
Admission
is free for Museum Members; veterans, active-duty, and retired military;
Maricopa Community College students, staff, and
faculty
(with ID); and youth aged 5 and under. Entrance to the exhibition is included
in general admission for the general public. During
voluntary-donation,
free-access times, the exhibition is offered free to the general public.
Free-access times include Wednesdays from 3 –
9 pm,
the first Fridays of every month from 6 – 10 pm, and the second weekend of each
month (Saturday from 10am – 5pm and Sunday
from noon
– 5pm). For a full breakdown of general admission prices and hours, see bit.ly/VisitPhxArt.
To request interviews and
high-resolution photography, contact Phoenix Art Museum’s Marketing and
Communications Office, at 602.257.2105 or email margaree.bigler@phxart.org. Media images are
available bit.ly/TbTPressImages.
The Whole Story at Phoenix Art Museum returns on Friday, May 4, and will
feature its first teen storyteller in celebration of the opening of To Be Thirteen.This live show seeks to bring greater depth and breadth to
our understanding of the human experience from the Black perspective. Tickets
are $5 for Members and $10 for the
general public. Purchase tickets here.
Opening Reception
May
16 | 6:30 pm
An
opening celebration of the exhibition will take place in the Norton Gallery, beginning
with a short talk by Betsy Schneider and followed by time to view the film,
prints, and complete archive. This
event is free and open to the public! Event
details will be available soon at phxart.org.
Free Family Art
Activity with artist Kari Wehrs
May
13 | Times TBD
Artist Kari Wehrs will collaborate with Museum staff to
design a hands-on portraiture experience inspired by Betsy Schneider’s work in
the To Be Thirteen exhibition. This event is free and open to the public! Event details will be available soon
at phxart.org.
For teens, by teens, Teen Night is a
celebration of art, creativity, and community. Artist Betsy Schneider will be
in attendance, and there will be special To Be Thirteen-themed activities. Free and open to all high school
students (ages 14-18). See more details here.
In celebration of the rich, often painful, process of
growing up, see a special performance of Peter Pan recorded live at the National Theatre. When Peter Pan,
leader of the Lost Boys, loses his shadow, headstrong Wendy helps him to
reattach it. In return, she is invited to Neverland, where Tinker Bell, Tiger
Lily, and the vengeful Captain Hook await. A riot of magic, music, and
make-believe ensues. Tickets are $15 for Members and students with ID, and $18 for non-Members. Prices do
not include general admission. Purchase tickets here.
*Please note:
National Theatre Live is a simulcast/telecast and not a live performance at the
Museum.
About Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix Art Museum has provided access to visual
arts and educational programs in Arizona for nearly 60 years and is the largest
art museum in the southwestern United States. Critically acclaimed national and
international exhibitions are shown alongside the Museum’s permanent collection
of more than 18,000 works of American, Asian, European,
Latin American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design. The Museum
also presents festivals, a
comprehensive film program, live performances, and educational
programs designed to enlighten, entertain, and stimulate visitors of all ages.
Visitors also enjoy vibrant photography exhibitions through the
Museum’s landmark partnership with the Center
for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. To learn
more about Phoenix Art Museum, visitphxart.org, or call the 24-hour recorded information line at 602.257.1222.
About the Center for Creative
Photography
The Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona, is recognized as one of the world’s
finest academic art museums and studycenters
for the history of photography. The Center opened in 1975, following a meeting
between University President John Schaeferand Ansel Adams. Beginning with the archives of five living master
photographers—Ansel Adams, Wynn Bullock, Harry Callahan, AaronSiskind, and Frederick Sommer—the
collection has grown to include 239 archival collections. Among these are some
of the mostrecognizable names in 20th-century
North American photography, including W. Eugene Smith, Lola Alvarez Bravo,
Edward Weston, and GarryWinogrand.
Altogether there are more than five million archival objects in the Center’s
collection, including negatives, work prints, contactsheets, albums, scrapbooks, correspondence, writings, audiovisual
materials, and memorabilia.
