Artist Barbara Kyne photographed city residents for "Lancaster Squared," a series of black-and-white portraits celebrating diversity.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the "Lancaster Squared" photo exhibit will be featured on this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
"Lancaster Squared" gets to the root of the city.
Its people.
Sponsored by the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the black-and-white photo exhibit "Lancaster Squared" will be on display in City Council Chambers at the Southern Market Center during this weekend's Spring ArtWalk.
"The city isn't just about the architecture and the buildings," says Barbara Kyne, of Lime Street Studios, who took the series of photos of city residents of all ages and ethnicities. "The people are truly what make the city what it is."
A sum of all its parts.
Some 70 of Kyne's photo portraits are featured in the display decorating the chamber walls, but Kyne — and city commission board member Mark Stoner — hope that number will grow exponentially.
As part of ArtWalk, free photo sittings for city residents interested in being part of the display will be held at the Southern Market Center.
"There is really no limit to what we are hoping to do with the exhibit," Stoner says. "Eventually, we hope to get this online in some form."
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Discrimination can be a dicey subject. Equality can also be open to interpretation.
In fact, in 1991, a disagreement over who should be protected led to a city-county rift and ultimate fracture of the joint human relations commission, which dated back to 1964.
After the Lancaster City Council approved an ordinance that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual preference and marital status to be enforced by the existing human relations commission, the county commissioners objected. Unable to reach a compromise, the joint commission essentially dissolved, and the remaining Lancaster County Human Relations Commission refused to enforce the ordinance.
At that time, the city did not have a commission of its own, so the ordinance was never enforced.
The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act does not specify marital status, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression as protected classes, but bills have been introduced in both the state House and Senate addressing this protection, according to Stephen Glassman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.
Local ordinances, however, can extend broader protections than the state nondiscrimination statutes afford, Stoner says.
In November 2001, city council amended its existing ordinance, changing the wording to "sexual orientation" and providing that a city commission can enforce the ordinance. The term "gender identity" was also added as a protected class.
Both city and county laws ban discrimination based on race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, handicap or disability.
According to its brochure, the city commission also promotes equal access and treatment without regard to pregnancy or possession of a GED, which the state and county commissions do not mention.
The Lancaster City Human Relations Commission is guided by five volunteers and a 13-member board of directors. At present, there are five openings on the board.
Potential victims of discrimination residing or working in the city can file complaints and be entitled to an investigation, mediation, and if conciliation is not successful, a public hearing.
The commission gets city funding of $5,000 annually.
"Our goal is mediation and to resolve problems and complaints before they go any further," Stoner says.
The commission receives an average of 20 to 30 calls a year, Stoner says.
Since the county commission is larger and better-funded, many people with complaints covered by county law may opt to go there or to the state first, he says.
To date, the city commission has not handled any mediations or had to oversee any hearings.
Another goal of the commission is education.
Through the photo display, commission members hope to encourage viewers to consider and appreciate the city's melting pot.
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Barbara Kyne believes you can't look at her photos without smiling.
"You are looking at 70 people who are alive, engaged ... "
Kyne was originally approached to do the photo portraits of four city dwellers chosen by the commission. Members had heard of a similar project in Reading.
Those photographed were asked to reach out to others who might want to be featured in the display.
Eventually, to gather more participants, the commission and Kyne sought out people at city events, such as the YWCA's Race Against Racism.
"It's been a joy doing this," Kyne says, "particularly in photographing the children, who we really hadn't originally envisioned as being part of the display."
In its infancy, the 13-photo exhibit was located at Godfrey Advertising and unveiled at the 2007 Spring ArtWalk. By the Fall ArtWalk, the display was ensconced at the City Council Chambers, where commission members hope it will stay — and expand.
"I was thrilled when I learned it was going to be in the chambers," Kyne says. "I hope it will inspire the people who attend the meetings."
The exhibit is a portrait of a city with a rich and varied populace, Stoner says.
"This is the face of Lancaster."
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