“I didn’t realize printing could be so dangerous!” — Sean O’Reilly, printer and activist.
EUGENE, Ore. — An exhibit, “The Power of the Press: I didn’t realize printing could be so dangerous!” is on display at Lane Community College in the Haugland Commons, second floor of the Center Building, main campus, 4000 E. 30th Ave., Eugene. The exhibit runs through December 8, 2017.
The exhibit contains printing equipment and ephemera from the Underground Press Syndicate and other free press counter-culture newspaper movements from across the United States, circa 1963 to 1975. The collection is from the archives of Eugene area printer and social justice activist, Sean O’Reilly.
O’Reilly’s collection includes news articles on cultural and political topics of the time that were either not covered or suppressed by the mainstream news. Features are articles about the Weather Underground, Black Panther movement, the American Indian Movement, the Gay Liberation movement, the Women’s Liberation movement, the Vietnam War resistance movement, as well as the psychedelic drug movement. Also exhibited are selected pages from Sean O’Reilly’s own FBI file from when he was under surveillance in Eugene from 1971-75.
Many articles in the collection mirror current issues and movements. O’Reilly’s message to young people now is to keep working for the positive change that they want in order to make the world a better place. Don’t give up, he says. “In our youth we were so intense and passionate about the movements we were involved in for our effort towards positive social change. However, there is still so much work to do towards peace and equality in the world. Without our continued struggle and participation, there will be no change.”
A public lecture with Sean O’Reilly will be held Tuesday, October 24, 12-1:30 p.m., Building 17, Room 111 (Media Arts Production Studio), on main campus.
This exhibit was organized by Susan Lowdermilk, LCC Art & Applied Design Instructor, lowdermilks@lanecc.edu and Eugene Printmakers, www.eugeneprintmakers.org
For more information about printmaking, graphic design and other arts programs at Lane, go online at: https://www.lanecc.edu/arts
For more information about Lane Community College:
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