Reece Museum Explores Appalachian Identity in “Wonderlands”

With its latest exhibition, Wonderlands, the Reece Museum is set to transport visitors into the landscapes of southern Appalachia. 

Drawing inspiration from Charles Baxter’s Wonderlands: Essays on the Life of Literature, this photographic exhibit sets its focus towards counties in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee and southeastern Virginia. 

Much like Baxter’s exploration of different literary settings that are filled with emotional intensity, this series captures that grounding, yet surreal feeling from photos of real-life spaces

This series is created by Tema Stauffer, who is an associate professor of photography at East Tennessee State University. 

Stauffer is an award winning series artist who is known for her examination of different social and cultural landscapes within American spaces. 

Jorja Lewis/East Tennessean

Her work, which has been featured in The New York Times, The Chicago Reader and Esquire Magazine, reflects a sustained commitment to documenting the social and cultural forces that shape American spaces.

The Wonderlands series builds upon her established interest in American environments, highlighting how ordinary spaces can carry extraordinary psychological weight.

Her documentation of familiar backdrops such as roadside attractions, religious relics and sweeping mountain views help to create an experience that is both serene and filled with emotion. 

These images help to tell the story of spaces where topics like preservation, decay and folklore all intertwine to create the area we know as Appalachia. 

They encourage viewers to slow down and consider the layers of meaning embedded within landscapes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Along with these powerful photographs, audiences will also be treated to Appalachian artifacts from the Reece Museum’s permanent collection. 

Together, they form a dialogue between visual art and material culture and invite viewers to think about how regional identity can be shaped by not only landscape, but by memory and belief. 

The production of this exhibit was made possible by a Research Funding Program Award and a Summer Research Award from the College of Arts and Sciences at ETSU in 2024. 

Audiences can catch Wonderlands on view at ETSU’s Reece Museum until May 22.