Stephanie, we’re here today to talk about your upcoming exhibit at Greeley’s Tointon Art Gallery, “Confluence.” But before we get a sneak peek of the exhibit, can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?
I was born and raised in Greeley, Colorado, and, currently, am a faculty member at Glendale Community College in Glendale, Arizona, teaching photography.
How did you end up pursuing photography?
I first became interested in photography when I was very young. My grandmother left a camera in her house after she passed away, and I started using that to make photographs when I was growing up.
When I was fifteen, I took my first darkroom class in the basement of Greeley Central High School. Then I pursued a degree in graphic arts and photography and the University of Northern Colorado (UNC).
After working in marketing at UNC, I pursued a Master of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
When you were in college [at UNC], what was your go-to study spot?
The dark room photo lab in the arts annex.
Favorite place in Greeley for food?
I think then it was probably Roma’s!
The “Confluence” exhibit combines a lot of elements to tell the story of Greeley’s water history. What drew you to this specific project?
I was living here at the time when I received the commission to do this project. I was really interested in learning more about where we get our great drinking water and was so happy to learn about the different spaces up in the mountains that Greeley has allocated for our drinking water.
We don’t want to give away the exhibit before it opens, but can you give us an inside look at one of the photographs and what it represents?
This image (pictured below), it’s an aerial drone view of the Greeley wastewater and treatment plant over on 8th Street.
What really interests me about it is having this constructed space, that treats our water, with the organic flow of the water that frames this structure.
A lot of the images in the exhibit were really framed by the historical images we were able to get from the [Greeley] water department and the [City of Greeley Museums] archive.
These [historical images] kind of set the stage for places I was going to go and visit and, once I arrived, I was able to give my own artistic interpretation of those spaces.
This exhibit isn’t the only exciting thing in your life—we heard you had a pretty big celebration the weekend before this exhibit’s opening. Can you tell us what happened?
My partner and I got married! We had a great celebration here in Greeley with all our friends and family.
To learn more about Stephanie Burchett and her work, visit stephanieburchett.com. For information about Greeley’s Tointon Gallery and upcoming exhibits, visit GreeleyArt.com.
