Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate
Thayer, Mungas/Volk and Rothschiller Galleries
May 21 – August 1, 2009
Opening Reception 5:30 - 7:30pm May 21st

Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art is pleased to join in a network of 10 state-wide museums acting as presenters for the exhibition Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate, an exhibition that seeks to encourage dialogue, empathy for others, and respect for social justice.

The exhibition organized by the Holter Museum of Art, presents art work by a wide range of artists who reflect upon and transform volumes of white supremacist propaganda.

The impetus for this unique project came from the Montana Human Rights Network (MHRN). As part of their work to research and counteract the efforts of racist groups, the MHRN acquired a large quantity of books from one of the most virulent white supremacist groups in the nation’s history, the World Church of the Creator. The search to creatively use the books as a catalyst for change led to involvement with curators at the Holter Museum of Art in Helena, Montana.

"Exhibitions like Speaking Volumes: Transforming Hate are part of a national movement to use the arts to stimulate civic dialogue. The FBI reports that hate crimes rose eight percent last year. This exhibition and the participating artists seeks to re-frame the problem, enabling us to look more carefully at the sources of fear, hate, and xenophobia—and to respond creatively through art and dialogue." Katie Knight, Exhibition Curator.

The statewide tour of this exhibition is sponsored by the Museum and Art Gallery Curators Association of Montana (MAGDA). Support for educational and outreach resources that accompany the exhibition is generously provided by the Prop Foundation and the Fund for Tolerance of the Montana Community Foundation.