By Marilyn Bauer
Enquirer staff writer

IF YOU GO

What: Visual Journey: Enslavement, Underground Railroad, Freedom Where: Northern Kentucky University, Fine Arts Building, third floor, Nunn Drive, Highland Heights When: Through Sept. 24 Hours: 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Friday Information: (859) 572-5148

In honor of the opening of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Northern Kentucky University has set aside its gallery space for what will be biennial exhibitions dedicated to the Underground Railroad. The first show, Visual Journey: Enslavement, Underground Railroad, Freedom, runs through Sept. 24.

More than 160 artists from 32 states submitted 319 works. Only 29 artists were selected by judge/artist/professor Michael Ray Charles. The 31 works include paintings, installations, sculpture, video and photography. Several of the artists are from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, and all of them depict their personal responses to the horror of slavery.

Burlington artist Nicole Hall, whose "Preservatives" is a quilt of historic photographs, says of her piece, "In the end buildings will turn to dust, quilts will wear, but the heart will remember it all."

Four other artists tell us about their processes and what freedom means to them.

"Conceal as You Heal"

Variable dimensions

Band-Aids, plastic, laser prints

Suzanne Broughel

New York

"A plastic sheet of Band-Aids is stretched tautly across one corner of the gallery. From the exterior, only light-toned Band-Aids are visible - a kind of web of pink and beige that conceals the brown Band-Aids beneath. ... 'Conceal as You Heal' is a slogan from the pack of brown Ebo-naid-brand bandages I found at a 99-cent store."

"Time Stood Still"

37 1/2 inches by 37 1/4 inches

Egg emulsion on canvas

George Dergalis

Wayland, Mass.

"Reflecting upon the horrors of slavery brought back the feelings I had experienced so long ago as a 15-year-old Greek soldier captured by the Nazis. ... The Germans starved, beat, labored and tortured me - mentally and physically - for two and a half years until (I escaped) through the Alps."

"West to Eden"

48 inches by 72 inches by 24 inches

Canvas, wood, concrete

Jeffrey Morgan Adams and Laura Anne Makowski

Forest Park, Ill.

" 'West to Eden' is a piece inspired by the state seal and flag of Kansas," Adams says, "(with) a sunrise overshadowing a farmer plowing a field, a steamboat sailing the Kansas River, a wagon heading west and, most importantly, Native Americans hunting bison unaware of their fate. ('West') is both menacing pioneer wagon and a 19th century version of a 21st century Humvee or RV. The 10, hundred-pound, cast concrete legs stand in formal military lockstep, signaling the coming occupation, oppression and virtual extermination of Native American people."

"Take Flight"

96 inches by 60 inches

Silk, welded stainless

Christina L. Gibbs

Ypsilanti, Mich.

"Throughout history, red has been used as a symbol of power in both liberation and domination. As I sew these red squares together, I think about the complexities of oppression and how ugly, disgusting and immoral it is."