Educating the SEGA Girls of Tanzania

NEWTON, Mass. - July 22, 2014 - PRLog -- Unbound Visual Arts, Nurturing Minds and The West SuburbanYMCA inNewton are pleased to present the opening of Educating the SEGA Girls of Tanzania, curated by John Quatrale,at the YMCA’s new Oval Gallery in Newton.

This exhibition features photographs by Warren Zelman portraying academic and social life at the Sega Girls School, a secondary boarding school in Tanzania for vulnerable girls.  The photographs capture the serious and joyful times in and out of the classroom where friendships, bodies and minds are developed. Warren’s black and white and color photographs vividly reflect the realities of growing up in Tanzania.  The acronym SEGA stands for Secondary Education for Girls Advancement.
A public opening reception is Friday September 12th from 7:00-9:00 pm. The exhibition runs through September 30, 2014 and is open daily from 5:45 am - 10:00 pm. Monday- Friday and 7:00 am - 7:00 pm Saturday and Sunday. West Suburban YMCA, 276 Church St., Newton, MA.| MBTA: Buses 57, 504 |  Handicapped accessible,  Free wi-fi and air-conditioned. Warren Zelman is a Montreal-based photographer who traveled to the SEGA school in 2011.  He does a wide range of advertising, corporate, editorial and documentary photography.  He was born and raised in Montreal and studied Commercial Photography at Dawson College.  The photographs  in the exhibition are part of a larger series which included the girls’ school portraits and class photos. The photos of laughing girls won the Applied Artsmagazine 2012 First Place Award for Pro-Bono Series.  Based on the entire group of photos, Warren was also awarded a 2013 Photography Fellowship in Africa by Management Sciences for Health and Social Documentary.net.   His Facebook page is www.facebook.com/warrenzelmanphotography.

John Quatrale is a founding member and current Executive Director of Unbound Visual Arts. He is also a member of the West Suburban YMCA. He holds a master of arts from Boston University’s American and New England Studies Department. He has museum studies post-graduate training through Harvard University's Museum Studies Program.  He also holds a masters degree in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School. He has planned, designed, curated and developed over 50 fine art and historical exhibitions in local museums and galleries and has served as first Museum Director for the   WaterWorks Museum in Chestnut Hill, MA.  Mr. Quatrale is a member of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), the New England Museum Association (NEMA),  the National Association of Museum Exhibitionists (NAME) and the AAM’s Curator’s Committee.

The West Suburban YMCA, located in Newton, Massachusetts, is a nonprofit that strengthens the communities it serves through youth development, healthy living and social responsibility.  Founded in 1877, the West Suburban YMCA has over 18,000 members and program participants, and serves the communities of Newton, Watertown, Belmont, Wellesley, and Weston with day and resident camps in Newton, Wayland, and East Brookfield, MA.
Nurturing Minds' is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit whose mission it is to provide financial and technical support to programs improving access to quality education for girls in Tanzania, with particular emphasis on girls who are poor, marginalized, and at risk of becoming involved in exploitative forms of child labor. To that end, Nurturing Minds supports the Sega Girls School, a secondary boarding school for vulnerable girls.

Unbound Visual Arts is a non­profit 501(c) (3) charitable and educational corporation based in Allston­-Brighton and serving the Boston area. It was incorporated in late 2012 to enliven the creative economy in contemporary fine art for artists and art supporters through curated exhibitions, education and sharing.