An Installation By Mary Giehl

January 23 – February 20, 2003

Mary Giehl has long associated her works around her experiences as a nurse in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Many times the job put her into the direct line of fire and she often cared for children after they had been abused. Giehl’s work attempts to analyze and redirect specific images into powerful discussions about how children are treated our culture. Of her work she states, “I have made the decision that my work would not offer a simple escape into aesthetic discussion, intellectual diversion, imaginative fantasy or simple entertainment. I am interested in creating work that educates, agitates and troubles the audience.”

Giehl’s work at the Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery will focus on an actual event in Fall River, Massachusetts history; the Granite Mill Fire of 1874. The fire began in the morning of September 19th and burned so quickly, that although there were ample means of escape, many panicked and were killed in the consuming blaze and smoke. Through Giehl’s research she discovered that mostly women and children were killed in the fire and has chosen the mill fire as a way to re-examine the working conditions experienced by many factory employees in the late 19th and early 20th century mills of New England.