One of this region’s most valuable natural resources, the Catawba River, has been the catalyst for our cultural history, from its earliest Native American inhabitants, through European settlements, industrial utilization, and current recreational and developmental uses. Changes to the river’s waters and shoreline show evidence of human use and abuse. That change has been drastic and is still occurring rapidly, without adequate documentation. But how do we document such an all-encompassing resource?
Six artists were commissioned to ‘document’ the Catawba River for one year from fall 2006 through summer 2007, from its headwaters just below Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina, to Lake Wateree, South Carolina, where it loses its name. Its waters flow on, becoming the Wateree River, the Santee River and then the Cooper River until reaching the Atlantic Ocean.
Three photographers, Raymond Grubb, Nancy Pierce, and Byron Baldwin, documented three different sections of the river. Raymond revisited sites primarily from his childhood in Morganton, and areas on the upper Catawba near the river’s headwaters in McDowell County. Byron concentrated on the ways humans experience the river in its middle section between north Lake Norman and the Lake Wylie Dam. Nancy combined her journalistic background and environmental passions in her work south of the Lake Wylie Dam. The photographers’ choices of process and format aptly depict the river’s evolution from pristine, hidden headwaters through its widening lakes and most populated shores, to the site of damaging spills and siltation downstream.
Marek Ranis’ and Maja Godlewska’s large scale maps also convey a story of change, topographically and historically. Mike Wirth’s interactive video and sound installations reference previous documentations by incorporating archival images and memories contributed by residents of Catawba River communities.
RIVER DOCS was planned as the first step of a continuing documentation of the Catawba River. This database of images from the exhibition plus future contributed images will be housed at the Stans Museum of Life and the Environment in York County.
The artists and community contributors to RIVER DOCS share their understanding of the river from personal experiences. After the viewers bear witness to those myriad experiences, our resulting interpretation of the river involves choice - whether to interpret the river
As OURS or EVERYONE’s
As PLAYGROUND or POWER STRUGGLE
As OUR RIGHT or OUR RESPONSIBILITY
Our hope is that RIVER DOCS can inspire passion, concern, and action to preserve and protect this invaluable, irreplaceable resource.
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June Lambla
RIVER DOCS Curator
The Catawba River Docs project is always looking for local community to add to it’s already rich story.
If you or any of your family members have a story, pictures or video related to the Catawba River, use our Share section to add your memories and help everyone understand the magic of the Catawba.
