Shana Berger + Nathan Purath : Participation

This book was given to Nathan Purath of the Coleman Center for the Arts in York, Alabama by the local sanitation worker, who had been saving it in his truck for him — a perfect metaphor for what the community gives back to the institutions that welcome and respect their participation.

Listen to : Nathan Purath and Shana Berger from the Coleman Center talk about how their collaboration with their local community goes two ways.

“The community gives so much to us. The people that we are working with have made me love art and think it’s meaningful, which a lot of times I don’t.”

Contributor Bios

Shana Berger and Nathan Purath are artists and curators who live and work in York, Alabama. Driven by the idea that art can play an integral role in realizing positive social change their work blends modes of art, activism, organizing and advertising. As Co-Directors of the Coleman Center for the Arts they have developed an architecture for creating participatory projects and maintain a relational framework through which artists and community members collaborate. They each hold a BFA in Photography from Indiana University and are recipients of Individual Fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. Berger received a Curatorial Fellowship from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
(Photography : Shana Berger and Nathan Purath)

Related Resources
The Coleman Center for the Arts