AUM and Booker T. Washington students showcase art inspired by Selma to Montgomery marches
Auburn University at Montgomery’s (AUM) Cason McDermott Art Gallery will present “Selma to Montgomery,” a special exhibition of student artwork on view Oct. 3–31.
The exhibition features the work of more than 30 young artists from Kaitlin Stanley’s class at Booker T. Washington (BTW) Magnet High School and students in AUM’s Beginning Photography class this fall. Each piece interprets some aspect of the historic Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. The project was made possible by a grant from the Alabama State Council on the Arts.
Stanley first introduced her students to AUM’s gallery in Spring 2025 during a visit to view an exhibition and hear an artist talk by New Orleans-based painter Aaron Collier. That experience sparked a collaboration between Stanley and AUM Department of Fine Arts Chair William Fenn to collaborate on a joint photography project that encouraged students to explore the civil rights marches and the subsequent passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
To provide a shared foundation for the work, students were tasked with incorporating a cyanotype — a photographic blueprint process invented in 1839 by English scientist John Herschel — into their projects.
“It’s a chemical process that is both fun and safe to demonstrate,” said Fenn, who teaches AUM’s Beginning Photography course.
To teach the process, Fenn partnered with AUM peer mentor and criminal justice major Maddie Wooldridge and AUM academic advisor Christina Buntyn to visit BTW. Together, they demonstrated the cyanotype process, discussed its history, and connected it to the marches.
“I love opportunities where AUM faculty, staff and students get to interact directly with high school students on a project,” Fenn said. “This goes beyond a typical campus visit and allows for true educational relationships to be formed. Having personable and engaged individuals like Ms. Wooldridge and Ms. Buntyn in attendance also gives high school students the opportunity to get a taste of what our university has to offer.”
For the final phase of the project, each student received a cyanotype depicting a map of the route between Selma and Montgomery and was instructed to incorporate their own photographs and mixed media.
“We hope visitors will appreciate the diverse approaches each student took to the subject matter,” Fenn said.
An opening reception for the exhibit will be held Friday, Oct. 3, from 4:30-7 p.m. at the Cason McDermott Art Gallery, located in Goodwyn Hall 101. The gallery is open 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The exhibition, which runs through Oct. 31, is free and open to the public.
