By Joanie Morris
Salisbury Post
Chad Mitchell is an artist whose medium is shutters, tripods and people.
He takes pictures ó more than 25,000 over a two-year period as Fieldcrest Cannon, formerly Cannon Mills, gradually died and gave way to bulldozers and the N.C. Research Campus.
Earlier this month, his photos went on display at the Cabarrus Arts Council gallery in the Old Courthouse in Concord. The exhibition, called “Fieldcrest Cannon: Angles and Elements,” is a collection of works Mitchell chose that depict uncommon views from common settings.
There are only 14 pictures in the gallery. “I looked at it as sort of a timeline,” Mitchell said, while standing in the exhibit.
The exhibit features an alternating theme of angles ó landscapes of the mill ó and elements, or artistic prints of photos Mitchell took.
“I liked finding things, seeing angles maybe people don’t see,” Mitchell said.
All the photos are framed in kiln-dried maple that Mitchell and his dad, Wayne, pulled up from the Open End Spin Room of Mill No. 7 of Plant 1. Both Mitchells worked at the plant in construction at one time. Now, Wayne is retired (but still works), and Mitchell is a graphics designer for Black Buck in Concord.
“You can smell it, and it puts you right back in that room,” Mitchell said. “It just hit me. I was in Mill No. 7 on the top floor. The floor was just so pristine.”
Initially, when he started taking photos of the mill, it was simply to document what was going on as it was happening.
It turned into so much more.
“I just learned so much, just talking to the people that stood outside the fences,” Mitchell said. “It was not, ‘Hello, how are you?’ It was, ‘I worked in there for 30 years …’
“I had to do it. There’s a story behind each one of these.”
The pictures show Mitchell’s artistic ability, as well as what the mill looked like before it was gone. Photos of the mill reflected on the lake, the checkerboard water tower, signs inside the mill that declared “No Union” and “Quality Work Means Job Security” and other scenes that called to the photographer.
“This was my favorite thing growing up,” said Mitchell, standing in front of a photo of the red-and-white-checkered water tower. “I could see it from everywhere in town.”
Paint splatters on the floor of the paint room reminded him of one of his favorite artists, Jackson Pollock, so the photo he took became “Paint Shop Pollock.”
“A (Hole) New Opportunity” is one of his favorites, as well as the only photo on display with a person featured ó his dad.
“We were on the second floor,” Mitchell explained. His dad is standing near a gaping hole in the wall, surrounded by debris, where construction equipment was taking down the place in which he worked for all those years. “It’s about the future. It’s about the past. It’s just, the future is coming. You might not like it, but you can’t change it.”
While he was taking photos, the scope of his work changed from documenting the timeline of a place going down and another going up to preserving a record of what had been there ó including the stories through photos.
In “Invalid,” a sign in one of the shops proclaims “Quality Work Means Job Security.”
“Quality work does not mean job security anymore,” Mitchell said. “Especially in tobacco and textiles.”
It was hard for Mitchell to choose just 14 images to exhibit.
“There were so many images I could have brought in,” Mitchell said, looking around at the 14. “Maybe (gallery visitors) will be happy with these.”
If they are not, Mitchell has a Web site, where more images ó all for sale ó can be viewed. The site is www.chadmitchellphoto.com. In addition, there are a limited number of the kiln-dried maple frames available for sale, as well as the photos on exhibit at the Cabarrus Art Gallery. All the photos at the gallery are sold “as-is” with the picture, frame and mats. Each piece is priced at $225.
Mitchell knows that while the buildings are no longer there, it’s not the end. He hopes that visitors to his exhibit will see that, as well.
“The mill’s still here,” he said. “It’s just not a building.”
Want to see more?
“Fieldcrest Cannon: Angles and Elements” will run through Feb. 22.
Also at the Cabarrus Arts Council gallery, Phil Moody’s “Textile Towns” and the “Fiber Group Invitational,” featuring members of the Piedmont Craftsmen Guild, will open Jan. 14.
“Textile Towns” is a series of large works exploring issues central to the region’s relationship with textiles. Moody, a Scottish-born photographer, has combined images and texts to movingly portray the history of textile workers in the South.
The “Fiber Group Invitational” includes fiber works on display ranging from tapestries to scarves and jackets by Philis Alvic, Janet Bealer, Jane Doub, Judy Gasont, Carolyn Glazener, John Gunter, Neal Howard, Karen Poetzinger, Alice Schlein, Liz Spear, Jen Swearington and Janet Taylor.
Three free gallery talks will be presented in conjunction with the exhibits. Moody will speak Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.; Doub, Jan. 29, 10 a.m.; and Mitchell, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.
Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays. The galleries will also be open during the Gallery Gathering on Jan. 25, 6-9 p.m., and during gallery talks.
For more information, or to arrange a group tour, call 704-920-ARTS (704-920-2787) or log on to www.cabarrusartscouncil.org.
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Contact Joanie Morris at 704-932-3336 or jmorris@salisburypost.com.