Mary Ellen Mark: A Seattle Family, 1983-2014
Mary Ellen Mark, one of the great American photojournalists, frequently turned her lens to those who had been pushed to the margins of society.This fall, the Gardner Museum brings the story of Mark and one of her long-time personal and artistic partnerships to the Fenway Gallery from October 10, 2024 – January 20, 2025.
In 1983, Erin Blackwell, known as “Tiny,” was a 13-year-old girl escaping a difficult home life and living on the streets of Seattle, Washington.
At the time, Mark was working on a story for LIFE about unhoused runaway teenagers in what was considered America’s “most livable city.” Mary Ellen Mark’s chance meeting with Erin in a discotheque parking lot would be the catalyst for a remarkable, deeply personal relationship.
Over the next 30 years, Erin let Mark document her life.
Through pregnancies and addictions, hardships and love, Mark chronicled Erin’s growing, changing family with unflinching empathy, making visible the tangled nature of human connections and the reality of poverty in the United States.
The exhibition Mary Ellen Mark: A Seattle Family, 1983–2014 invites visitors to empathize with the struggles and triumphs of a multi-racial American family, and to feel the trust and inspiration that blossomed between Erin Blackwell and Mary Ellen Mark—a relationship that transcended that of artist and collaborator.
Image: Mary Ellen Mark, Tiny in her Halloween costume, Seattle, 1983.
Gelatin silver print © Mary Ellen Mark, Courtesy of The Mary Ellen Mark Foundation/Howard Greenberg Gallery
| HOURS | ↑ top |
11:00 am - 5:00 pm Mon, Wed, Fri; 11:00 am - 9:00 pm Thu; 10:00 am - 5:00 pm Sat-Sun; closed Tue
| COST | ↑ top |
Children: free; students: $13; seniors: $18; adults: $20
| WEBSITE | ↑ top |
www.gardnermuseum.org/calendar/mary-ellen-mark-seattle-family
| LOCATION | ↑ top |
25 Evans Way, Boston, MA, 02115 map
| RELATED LINKS | ↑ top |
- Profiles
- Localities
- Events
- Mary Ellen Mark: A Seattle Family, 1983-2014..., 10/10/24-1/20/25
Info changes frequently. We cannot warrant it. Verify with Mary Ellen Mark: A Seattle Family, 1983-2014 before making the trek. If you find an error, please report it...
