MONTGOMERY, AL .- An exhibit at Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum examines the issue of homelessness through the work of sculptor Jim Hager.

The exhibit, “Homeless,” opened August 8, and will be on display through Oct. 26 in the museum’s gallery.

Inspiration for the exhibit came from the growing number of homeless in Hager’s home city of Oakland, CA.

“The effort was inspired by a desire to better understand ‘Who are the homeless in our community?’ I constantly pass individuals at street corners holding signs asking for help and continue with no understanding of the situation of who they are or how they came into this situation,” Hager said. “I want this exhibition to share voices and images of the homeless in Oakland in a format that is insightful, illuminating and engaging, reaching a broad audience to increase public awareness of the people and issues underlying homelessness.”

Hager decided to use his art as a tool to create awareness and bring about action around the issue. In doing so, he collaborated with the photographer Paola Tazzini Cha, an Italian who worked with Jim in Italy, and Bryan Hagar, an Emmy Award winning video editor and filmmaker on the project.

“Who are these people, our neighbors, now displaced due to gentrification, development and/or a change in their personal situation and living on the streets? They deserve our attention, our support and to be known,” he said.

Donna Beisel, Director of Museum Operations, hopes the exhibit will help to raise awareness about the issue of homelessness locally as well. Throughout the exhibit’s run, the Museum will be collecting much-needed items to help the unhoused in the Montgomery area.

“The rise in homelessness is affecting communities across the country, including ours here in Montgomery,” Beisel said. “Through this exhibition, we’re hoping to raise awareness, as well as provide resources and goods to our own unhoused neighbors.”

Born and raised in California, Hager has been making annual pilgrimages to Pietrasanta, Italy since 1992 where he took a sabbatical to learn marble carving at Studio SEM and bronze casting at Fonderia d’Arte del Chiaro. He studied figurative sculpture at Fort Mason Art Center in San Francisco and anatomy at the University of California, Davis. After leaving corporate life in 2017, he now works exclusively on his art.

He created a new studio “Tre Luci Studi d’Arte" in Pietrasanta with 5 other artists, which began operations in March 2021. He has been represented by the Christensen-Heller Gallery in Oakland, California and Aaron Gallery in Washington DC, and has completed commissions and works for clients in the U.S., Italy, United Arab Emirates and Tunisia.