Local artwork to showcase I-69 debate

For the past year, photographer Will Claytor has been documenting the Southern Indiana terrain between Indianapolis and Evansville, which will be affected by the I-69 interstate highway construction. From 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow, visitors to Boxcar Books store and Community Center will be able to view the results of the IU senior's project.\nClaytor has shown work in a variety of locations around Bloomington and this will be his second show at Boxcar Books. He said his inspiration comes from a wide variety of people and places. \n"I've spent the past year, off and on, traveling the route for I-69 between Indianapolis and Evansville photographing the area, while also interviewing homeowners and business owners who will be affected by the highway, activists and public officials," Claytor said. "This show consists of photographs and interviews from that work, focusing on the lives and opinions of rural families who will lose land to I-69."\nJody and Wayne Vaught live in Springville, Indiana -- about one mile outside of Hobbieville. The Vaught's farm is being destroyed because of the construction of I-69.\n"We wanted to be able to pass the farm down to our daughters and their families," Jody Vaught said. "We have always paid our taxes on time and now the government says we want your land ... We don't want their money ... We want our farm." \nClaytor recently traveled to the Vaught's farm to photograph their property and the land that is going to be disrupted.\n"Will has actually given us some comfort because of his stand on the entire I-69," Jody Vaught said. "I am such an optimist that I can't help but think this will not happen."\nCorinna Manion, an employee at Boxcar Books and Community Center, said they are featuring this particular show because it is an incredibly important issue in Southern Indiana right now. \n"We feel that the personal side of the story should be highlighted, as it is in Will Claytor's photography and interviews with people who will loose land to I-69," Manion said.\nManion said although the event is not a fundraiser for any organization, the bookstore enjoys allowing the community an open gallery to display art work. Claytor has been taking photos much of his life and he began the I-69 project in January 2003 while he was taking a class on documentary photography.\n"This was just a couple weeks after the late Gov. O'Bannon announced the state's preferred route for I-69, so looking into that decision and its effects seemed like a logical thing to do at the time," Claytor said. "The photos that are the most interesting to me personally are some that I shot in the Amish community in Daviess County, which will be bordered to the west by I-69." \nClaytor said he hopes his work will show the destruction of communities and lives that will be brought on by the construction of I-69. Manion and Claytor encourage students and local residents to attend the show. \nFor further information, contact Corinna Manion at 339-8710 or visit the Boxcar Books and Community Center Web site at www.boxcarbooks.org.\n-- Contact staff writer Alex Moore at mam3@indiana.edu.