UK SA/VS presents a Transatlantic student photography collaboration
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 18, 2026) — The University of Kentucky School of Art and Visual Studies (SA/VS) invites the public to experience “The Americas Photo Exchange,” an international student photography exhibition, Feb. 26-March 26, in the Bolivar Art Gallery.
The exhibit is free and open to the public. A free public reception will be 4:30-7 p.m. Thursday, March 5.
The exhibition is the result of an ongoing collaboration between James (Rob) Southard, senior lecturer in art studio, photography and digital media design, and colleagues at Paraná State University’s Curitiba Campus I - EMBAP (Escola de Música e Belas Artes do Paraná) in Curitiba, Brazil. The partnership grew from Southard’s immersive photography work in southern Brazil and a relationship with the university he cultivated during a research visit to Curitiba several years ago. He plans to return to Brazil this summer to continue a project with a museum there.
“A partnership between two continents — connected not by borders, but by a shared hemisphere,” Southard said. “North and South America are not divided, but united as one: The Americas.”
The project pairs students from both universities to collaborate on a dual exhibition — one presented simultaneously at UK and the EMBAP in Brazil. Both institutions are public, land-grant universities deeply rooted in their cities and regions. The collaboration invites students to explore their individual artistic interests while constructing a body of photographic work that reflects the perspectives and concerns of collaborators on the opposite side of the equator.
“This project is not only a reflection of you and your collaborator’s vision, but also of two distinct communities coming together,” Southard said. “The direction it takes is entirely open — and that freedom makes it all the more exciting to see what everyone creates and discovers along the way.”
The exhibition features work by student photographers from both universities, including Allie Vieira, Ana Thysa Schneider Jamas, Kauan Gapski Barros, Lara Zanatta Waz, Roberto Dalmo Varallo Lima de Oliveira, Sarah Crystine Pozzo Avon, Yasmin Vieira Rocha and Marina Sarat Suttana from EMBAP, alongside UK students Trevor Logan, Willard Martin, Keegan Rose and Becca Joiner. Faculty involved in the project include Rob Southard (SA/VS), Bruno Oliveira, and Milena Costa (EMBAP).
The Bolivar Art Gallery is in the Art and Visual Studies Building at 236 Bolivar St. in Lexington.
For more information, visit the UK School of Art and Visual Studies website at finearts.uky.edu/savs or the EMBAP website at embap.curitiba1.unespar.edu.br.
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