 Landscape of Hope and Despair By Jo Blatti, Linda Gammell and Sara Menefee Taylor St. Paul, Minnesota: Linda Gammell, 1989. Edition of 350. 9.5 x 9.5" closed, opens to 19 x 38"; one sheet book. Offset printed. Signed by all three authors. Numbered. Laid in 10 x 10" pictorial wrapper with display information sheet laid in. Linda Gammell: "The book tells the story of a rural crossroads community and an adjacent family farm in Bath township, Freeborn County, Minnesota, from the 1940's to the present. Eighty acres of the family farm were lost to foreclosure in the 1980's. The book combines photography and oral history to explore memories of the area as it is and was. Accompanying quotations from other sources provide additional context on contemporary farm issues. Produced with a fellowship from the Jerome Foundation–Minnesota Center for Book Arts. "These were created during the 'farm crisis' in the late 80's when long-term farm families were losing their land to bank foreclosures. These were times when farmers and farm histories were being lost to suicide and bankruptcy. Many foreclosures were not because of poor financial managing by farm families, but by bank practices which resulted in whole families losing land that had meaning beyond just money. "We believe that art should be connected and have social relevance." |