Tammy Marinuzzi is taking it one step at a time. And for the past 10 years, each step has had more direction and meaning.
Marinuzzi’s photo exhibit, “9,514 Miles: Walk, Witness, Connect,” opening at The Light Room in downtown Panama City on Feb. 21, is a reflection of her journey to raise awareness and funds for education in southern India.
The distance is the equivalent mileage between Panama City and Pondicherry, India. And as of Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, the Gulf Coast State College art professor and potter was down to her last 30 miles.
For perspective, 9,514 miles is the equivalent of walking across the U.S., from sea to shining sea, more than three times.
The true-to-life project was inspired by a 2006 visit to a rural Indian potter who made 25-foot terracotta horses for temple shrines, a meeting that revealed both the cultural beauty and economic hardships facing local artisans. At the time, Marinuzzi was a visiting artist and instructor at Golden Bridge Potter in Tamil Nadu and witnessed school-aged girls fetching heavy jugs of water for their families instead of going to school.
“I’m not the expert of India, but (it’s like) when you go somewhere, you sometimes have these moments and it’s like, ‘Well, what can I do?'” Marinuzzi said while installing her artwork at The Light Room. “And it’s taken me a long time to process what that would look like and what it should be.”
Walking.
Walking for the children of Pondicherry, India.
Money raised from Marinuzzi’s photo exhibit will be directed to Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project, a school in Tamil Nadu that provides an education for one child per family from villages experiencing extreme poverty.
Donors who make a gift of $100 at The Light Room, or to Marinuzzi online, will receive one of her “9,514 miles” of photos. Landscapes include Greece, Italy, Mexico, South Dakota, Montana, Florida and Chicago.
Donations to the education project can be made at https://www.patreon.com/PondiWalk?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=creatorshare_fan&utm_content=join_link
For more information about the photo exhibit and fundraiser, go to @pondiwalk on Instagram, or email tmarinuzzi@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Gulf Coast State professor walks 9,000 miles to help girls in India
Reporting by Tyler Orsburn, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
