Hanging Art and Hanging around Tomes

On Saturday I arrived at the Marlboro Gallery, at Prince George's Community College in Maryland, with some other members of DCUE to hang our photos for an Urban Exploration show. Tom, a member of our group and a teacher at the college managed to get us the space, and we're all excited to see our work on display.

Some had to prepare their pictures for hanging or help others who needed assistance. Scott and I hung the pictures, guided by Tom, and we got them up in no time.

Tom adjusting the lighting so every masterpiece had its own spotlight.

Emily, featured in both of these photos, is not performing some strange stretching ritual movement, but is actually looking at her phone...

 Lewis setting up his iPhone for action, and afterwards he posted a 360 view of the gallery here.

Click on this image to see my photo and to enlarge details of the show. I'll be there on the reception night, please come!
On Sunday, after chatting Saturday during the installation, a few of us decided to visit an abandoned boys school in Maryland, Tomes. I've been here a couple of times before but not for a long time, so was curious to see how the place had held out. It's been closed since 1976 so has been crumbling away at a steady rate. Of course it was yet again a freezing cold day but thankfully with no wind, and my trusty hand warmers in my pockets made a cozy haven for my paws as we hiked through the woods.

There were a number of old houses scattered throughout the woods in which the officers had once resided, and which I'd not been in before. They were all so derelict and destroyed by time and the elements that they gave the impression of only being held up by the trees that had grown beside and inside some of them. It was mentioned that a couple of them looked as thought they'd had starring roles in the Amityville Horror move from 1979, it was definitely believable.

The roof had imploded on this house with the weight of it punching out the floors below down to the basement. Climbing to an advantageous angle to photograph the damage was a little dodgy but decidedly worth it.

After rummaging around some of the houses we headed over to the actual school area and started photographing the bigger buildings.

We all liked the entrance of this one!

The architecture on these structures is beautiful; it always saddens me to see them left to erode away or be pulled apart by vines and creepers.

As we approached the main building the bell tower was looking in a sorrier state than I last remembered, and upon entering we discovered that because its protective covering had been whipped away by winds and rain but never replaced, the damage inside had progressed so far that it was completely unsafe to climb up to the top as I had done on my first visit.

The beautiful marble staircases in the Directors Hall had lost a lot of their charm from when I remembered seeing them last, there was a lot more damage than previously, more piles of fallen plaster, and the huge hallway was almost in complete darkness with all the doors and windows boarded up, except for one.

The auditorium had suffered more damage too with the ceiling nearly fully collapsed and a gaping hole in the wall where a window had once been.

As the sun started to droop in the sky it cast some wonderful shadows within the building but we were also aware of the temperature dropping. It was freezing and damp inside this building with nearly all the doors and windows boarded up. We started packing our tripods away and climbed out to enjoy the last warm rays of the sun.

We got back to the car as the orange light turned to the grey of approaching dusk and gratefully huddled in the warmth of the car's heater. It was a long journey home for me and I was glad to fall in to bed with two little warm feline bodies to snuggle up against.