Mise-en-Scène is an immersive exploration of the social lives of urban landscapes—the actors and actions that compose the daily theater of urban life, and the challenges at the heart of contemporary cities and design. These include housing shortages, homelessness, racism, and the current and impending effects of climate change. Conceived as a unique collaboration between a designer, Chris Reed, and a photographer, Mike Belleme, the exhibition explores how the architects of urban landscape conceive space, exposing the consideration paid to the environmental, structural, social and cultural realities that influence the design process.
These themes are explored through photographic essays in seven American cities: Los Angeles, Galveston, St. Louis, Green Bay, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Boston. They are accompanied by original maps and drawings, sound recordings from contributors across an array of design-related disciplines, and short excerpts from historical writings and interviews with residents.
Chris Reed
Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design
Chris Reed is Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture and Co-Director of the Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He is also Founding Director of Stoss Landscape Urbanism. He is recognized internationally as a leading voice in the transformation of landscapes and cities, and he works alternately as a researcher, strategist, teacher, designer, and advisor. He is recipient of the 2012 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in Landscape Architecture, a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, and the 2017 Mercedes T. Bass Landscape Architect in Residence at the American Academy in Rome. Reed has been a member of Van Alen Institute’s Climate Council, a platform for exchange among leading professionals to investigate and collaboratively address critical climate-related issues. Reed received a Master in Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and an AB in Urban Studies from Harvard College.
Mike Belleme
Professional Photographer
Mike Belleme is a self-taught, Appalachian-born documentary photographer living in Asheville, North Carolina. At the heart of Belleme’s work is a considered approach to contemporary issues that helps us explore the seen and unseen forces that dictate how we perceive each other and the world around us. Belleme’s assignment work, primarily focused in the rural Southeastern, United States, can be seen in such publications as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Time, The Guardian, National Geographic, Elle, Monocle, The Atlantic, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Entrepreneur, Inc., NPR, CNN, MSNBC, The Marshall Project, and many more. Belleme has been recognized in multiple years by Pictures of the Year International as well as American Photography, Indie Book Awards, ASME Photography and Illustration Awards and Urbanautica Institute and has exhibited his work in several solo exhibitions in North Carolina and Virginia as well as group exhibitions and lectures all over the US.
Visit the Circle Gallery from August 16th to October 18th to view the exhibit and join us in the Jackson Street Building on Wednesday, August 28th, for an artist lecture.
Artist lecture is sponsored by the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts. Learn More.
