January 6, 2002 - March 31, 2002

The Reading Public Museum will exhibit …findings alter beliefs: the vietnam experience by Robert Faragher. This exhibit is a "visual journal" that includes photographs, writings, drawings, artifacts, and more. These computer-generated images retrace a personal Vietnam War experience through the eyes of the artist Robert Faragher, a Vietnam veteran. There will be an opportunity to meet the artist Saturday, January 19, 2002 from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibit will run through March 31, 2002 and is included with regular Museum admission of $4 adults, $2 children 4 to 17. Members and children under 4 are admitted free. Museum hours are Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday 11am to 5pm, Wednesday 11am to 8pm and Sunday 12pm to 5pm.

Robert Faragher started his tour of duty as a language-liaison between the U.S. Military and native villagers seventeen miles south of Danang. He was afforded the unique opportunity to learn the Vietnamese language and get to know the people of this village in Vietnam. However, "orders being what orders are, my unit along with the entire regiment was reassigned north to Quang Tri Province, where I spent the remainder of my tour under combat conditions: field operations, patrols, etc." said Faragher. It was the paradox of these "two worlds" that formed the basis for his exhibition. "I began formulating the idea for '…findings' in the mid 1980s. But it was not until the late 1990s that technology afforded me the medium to produce these images. One could say the project came out of a need to somehow understand and reconcile the ways in which the Vietnam War had changed my life. The work, as it exists today, is merely the physical evidence of a journey that began in 1967 and continues. It is simultaneously, therapy, scavenger hunt, angst and creative expression. My story, while unique to me, is but a version of one shared by many," said Faragher.

Robert Faragher currently resides in Reading with his wife and son. He continues to work on "…findings" while operating his own corporate communications and graphic design firm. He studied photography at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This exhibition was made possible by the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Maurer, III and family and CommonWealth Professional Group.

Robert Metzger, Ph.D
Director, CEO, Chief Curator Reading Public Museum