‘Faces of Green Bay’ photographer selected UW-Green Bay class speaker

GREEN BAY — University of Wisconsin-Green Bay senior Jenna Neumann, of Merrill, has shown a keen eye as a photographer for the University’s Office of Marketing and Communication.

She’ll project an engaging voice at the Fall 2008 Commencement ceremony as the class speaker.

“I love the feel of this campus,” Neumann said. “I feel like I’ve learned how to be creative here—with problem solving, being flexible and open to new things.

“The professors prepared us for the jobs that don’t even exist yet. It’s a mindset we’re in where we think and problem solve and create. That’s prepared me. I know I’m ready for whatever’s next.”
Neumann knows the University and knows the surrounding areas.

With camera in hand, Neumann has explored her collegiate community through her viewfinder and an array of lenses.

Neumann created a photography project, “100 Faces of Green Bay,” which represents the commonalities, the differences, and the shared humanity of people in the region, including a few of her peers at UW-Green Bay. The photos depict artists and children and firefighters, scenes from grocery stores and schools and city streets, and more.

The project, and her presence around campus, are just some of the reasons Neumann was chosen as class speaker for the upcoming Commencement ceremony, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 20, in the Weidner Center for the Performing Arts.

Neumann will receive her bachelor’s degree with cum laude honors and a double major in Art and in Social Change and Development.

She has participated in several internships, been a freelance photographer, participated in art exhibitions on campus and in the community, and has won multiple awards for her academic and photographic work. Last year, she was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society for academic achievement.

Neumann voluntarily created the “100 Faces” piece at the request of Fritz Erickson, the UW-Green Bay Dean of the College of Professional and Graduate Studies. She used photos, statistics and personal interviews to capture the various roles people play in this community, the age distribution of the population, gender, the range of languages, literacy, educational attainment, use of technology and transportation networks.

“I hope to push both my own and others’ understanding of the true diversity in Green Bay, Wisconsin,” she says in her artist statement on the project. “…To document the many people and stories that I have experienced, to share with everyone the vast value of the individual, and to celebrate what makes us who we are as a people, are all factors that drive my work.”

“100 Faces of Green Bay “has been on display at the Wisconsin Capitol’s “Posters in the Rotunda” exhibit and at the UW-Green Bay Founders Association Reception and the Academic Excellence Symposium.

A sampling of her photographs is featured online on UW-Green Bay’s news site here.

For more about the Fall 2008 Commencement ceremony visit www.uwgb.edu/commencement.

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