Photo by Pamela Pecchio

Photo by Mike Smith

Photo by Jeff Whetstone

UNC Asheville's S. Tucker Cooke Gallery will pay homage to another great university with a contemporary photography exhibition by Yale University alumni Pamela Pecchio, Mike Smith and Jeff Whetsone February 8-March 4. All three artists hold master's of fine art degrees from Yale. Their work explores the relationship between humans and the environment, with a focus on the southeastern United States. Whetstone will kick off the exhibition with a gallery talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in the gallery, which is located on the first floor of UNC Asheville's Owen Hall. An opening reception with the artists will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 8, in the gallery. All events are free and open to the public.

Pecchio joined UNC Asheville's Art Department in fall 2007 as an assistant professor of photography. Her work is included in private and public collections, including the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University and the Yale Davenport College Collection. Pecchio has exhibited her work across the United States, as well as China, Spain, Italy and Holland. Her photographs have been published in ArtNews, Details, Camera Arts and V magazines, as well as an artist’s book, "Eight." Pecchio has a second limited edition artist’s book, "509," scheduled for release later this year. In June, she is scheduled to hold a solo exhibition at Daniel Cooney Fine Art in New York City.

Smith is professor of photography at East Tennessee State University, where he has taught since 1981. His career as an educator has coincided with his interest in the Northeast Tennessee landscape. Smith began taking photos of the area and in 2004 published "You're Not From Around Here: Photographs of East Tennessee." He has received numerous fellowships and awards, including the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and the Tennessee Governor's Distinguished Artist Award. His work has been exhibited throughout the nation and has also appeared in notable magazines such as Blind Spot, New Yorker, Newsweek, Oxford American and New York Times Magazine. His work may also be found in many collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Art Institute of Chicago.

Whetstone is assistant professor of photography at UNC Chapel Hill. A Chattanooga native, he has been photographing and writing about the human relationship to the land since he completed his undergraduate degree at Duke University in 1990. A recipient of several Lyndhurst Foundation grants and a 2007 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, Whetstone has taught photography and writing throughout the South, including residencies at the Appalachian Media Institute and Appalshop Inc. Whetstone served as project director for the "Before the Flood" exhibit, an oral history project documenting the history of the Watauga River Valley, which premiered at the National Folk Festival. As National Public Radio's correspondent assigned to report on the South Mountain mine disaster, his stories aired on Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His photographs and writing have also been featured in Southern Changes, DoubleTake and Southern Exposure.

UNC Asheville's S. Tucker Cooke Gallery, located on the ground floor of Owen Hall, is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. Admission is free. For more information, call UNC Asheville's Art Department at 828/251-6559.