Iron Horses Now At Depot

DAYTON - The Dayton Historic Depot's upstairs art gallery is now displaying photos depicting the strong, industrial rail yard trains taken by Charlene Collins Freeman.

The photo exhibit made its solo debut last Saturday at the depot and will run through Oct. 1.

Freeman, age 47, studied art at Mills College and the University of Utah.

Freeman was born in San Francisco to an American father and Italian mother and was raised between Italy and the United States.

She began painting and photographing in high school, in Vicenza, Italy.

In 2010, she said she was visiting a rail yard in Snoqualmie with her husband and was amazed to find all of the trains from different places parked and rusting.

She said she took photos of the Iron Horses for hours, but purely for her own satisfaction.

"I've always had a thing about trains," Freeman said. "They're just beautiful and nostalgic."

When she was editing the photos back at her home, she believed they would make a great art collection.

In the show at the depot, there are 28 photos on display and there are 175 in all.

The photos are printed on canvas of varying sizes. What is most noticeable are the bright colors popping from and around the trains that are characteristically dark colors like black.

The rust is a brilliant red orange and the paint still coloring a rail car is bright despite its age.

Freeman can't just pick one favorite out of the collection - she has three.

"They best show the passage of time," she said. "A haunting image of things that have passed."

One photo is of mosscovered steps up to a train. The other two show details of the trains that have really rusted.

She said she likes best how the trains are strong and industrial, how everything on the train was important and had a purpose and a serial number to prove its significance.

"It shows the strength of the industry," she added.

What is different about this collection compared to her other work in painting, she said the photos are almost abstract art.

She's really attracted to things that are old and aging.

She said she also photographed a series of older people who are no longer "25 and sexy."

"There's so much value and worth that's overlooked," Freeman said. "My paintings are of beautiful, everyday objects."

In 2011, Freeman was awarded an Individual Artist Project Grant by 4Culture for her Iron Horses collection.

The turnout for the exhibit opening on Saturday was impressive considering the icy conditions and leftover snow on the ground outside.

About 15 people strolled through the exhibit, sipping on wine and nibbling warm hors d'oeuvres from the Weinhard Café.

In addition to the photos, on exhibit is a display of model trains.

The models were made by David Dire and donated by his niece Kenny Reeves of Dayton.

For more information or to see the exhibit for yourself, contact the Dayton Historical Depot Society, located at 222 E. Commercial Avenue in Dayton, and via email at info@daytonhistoricdepot.org.