‘Images of Kosovo’ at Cornell’s Orange Carpet Gallery through Feb. 23

MOUNT VERNON – Photos by Muscatine residents, along with artwork by them and the Kosovar children they visited, are exhibited in “Images of Kosovo” in the Orange Carpet Gallery of The Commons at Cornell College through Feb. 23. Admission is free.

The exhibition tells the story of a July 2005 visit by 32 Muscatine residents, including members of the Muscatine Children’s and Youth Choirs, to Gjakove, Kosovo. The trip was part of a musical exchange with the Shropshire Music Foundation, founded by Liz Shropshire in 1999, at the height of the reign of terror. With a belief in the power of music to heal, she purchased pennywhistles and harmonicas for the children of Kosovo.

For two weeks last summer, the Muscatine visitors offered English, art, music, and craft classes and organized a health clinic, eye clinic, and other projects. Jon Fasanelli-Cawelti, curator of the exhibition, traveled with approximately 120 pounds of art supplies in two huge suitcases and two backpacks. Materials were contributed by several people, including Craig Carman ’82, manager of an art supply store in Iowa City, who donated 1,000 pencils and 1,000 sheets of paper.

The exhibition at Cornell features a selected portion of the more than 100 works shown in the original exhibit at the Muscatine Art Center Dec. 17 – Jan. 8.