Spotlight: Behind Raymond Thompson Jr’s Appalachian Ghosts

Current featured exhibition, Appalachian Ghosts, combines works from three series within a greater project of the same name by artist Raymond Thompson Jr. The work sheds light on a community of migrant workers, a majority of which who were African-American, who lost their lives as a result of their work on a large scale mining project in West Virginia. Thompson uses primary source documents and his own photographs to imagine the lives of these individuals and bring light to their humanity.

“In the 1930s, migrant laborers came from all over the region to work on the construction of a 3-mile tunnel to divert the New River near Fayetteville, WV. During the process, workers were exposed to pure silica dust due to improper drilling techniques. Many developed a lung disease known as silicosis, which is estimated to have caused the death of nearly 800 workers. Up to two-thirds of those workers were African American. Besides a small plaque at the Hawks Nest State Park, which lists a significantly lower number than the actual number killed, there is very little to mark the site. There is also sparse visual documentation available about the event. There has been an effort to erase this tragic moment in history from the memory of West Virginia.”

The video below shares more of the process and inspiration behind the works, particularly the 12 Men series, which now exists as a set of brushed aluminum figures in the gallery.