Reception: February 23rd, 7PM

Situated ten blocks from the White House, the historic Shaw neighborhood once stood as the cultural hub that defined Washington, D.C. Today a surge in luxury redevelopment threatens to erase the homes and histories of the black community that’s lived there for decades. For the last two years, Jordan Tovin has been documenting the experiences of one family living in subsidized housing, navigating an indeterminate future in a shifting social and physical landscape. 

A Shaw Diary explores how their experience mirrors a national struggle against gentrification. The work offers a story of endurance that holds community and memory up against demolition and erasure. In this exhibit, Tovin centers the perspectives of the children, layering their drawings with family artifacts, snapshots, and his own traditional documentary photography. These elements together form a collaborative family album that presents the Kearneys' voices and experiences, documenting not just what's happening to them, but how they see and live their own lives.

Student Artist Biography:
Jordan Tovin (b. 2004, Atlanta) makes multimedia long-form projects about people navigating uncertainty within communities undergoing change.  In collecting pictures, ephemera, words, and objects from the world around him, Tovin builds upon the documentary tradition to create collaborative projects that reveal the nuance embedded in the history and everyday of these spaces. He is currently pursuing a BFA in photojournalism at the Corcoran School of Arts & Design in Washington, D.C.