Opening September 10th at the Arizona State Museum is an Southwest Folk Alliance partnership exhibit, “Walking Each Other Home: Cultural Practices at End of Life“. At once solo and communal, death, dying, mourning, and honoring are part of the circle of life. This exhibit shares stories and traditions that were documented as part of the Southwest Folklife Alliance’s End of Life Continuum project, supported by the Arizona End of Life Care Partnership with funds from the David and Lura Lovell Foundation. The exhibit runs through February 2023 with a featured community event on November 19th. The museum hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am-4pm.

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It is a tremendous honor, not only to have been a part of this project for the last 18 months or so, but to have my photography work featured substantially in the upcoming exhibit. My deep gratitude to Southwest Folklife Alliance, Arizona State Museum, Arizona End of Life Care Partnership, and David and Lura Lovell Foundation.

Description of the exhibit’s banner image: This portrait was taken in early September 2012 less than 3 weeks before my dad, Carlon “Bud” Dreier passed from Dementia. I knew that my father was in the process of dying so I brought my son, Logan, to visit him one last time. We were all in the family visiting area quietly sitting when my dad unexpectedly reached out towards Logan, who responded by gently bringing his hand up to support and meet his grandfather’s. The sacredness of this moment I will never forget.

We live in a society, that often tries to process grief quickly and move on. I encourage everyone to go to this exhibit, spending time allowing oneself to contemplate end of life care, end of life wishes, grief, loss, honoring and celebration.