An Artistic Homecoming

Graceland University welcomes back 2011 graduate Tara Shupe as this year’s Homecoming visiting artist. Her work will be on display in the Constance Gallery of the Helene Center for the Arts beginning with a meet and greet on Friday, October 3, following the Alumni Awards Banquet, and will remain on view through October 31. The gallery is open daily and into the early evening. In addition to preparing her exhibit, Shupe has been leading a four-week workshop for the Introduction to Photography class.

Shupe along with three brothers grew up in Independence, Missouri. Her parents nurtured a family curiosity for adventures that carried her from Independence, MO, to Graceland University and eventually beyond, traveling through more than 30 countries ‒ including Pakistan, Tanzania, Kenya, Chad, Niger, India, Nepal, Indonesia (Sumba), Cambodia, Ethiopia, Greece, and the Dominican Republic ‒ as well as across Europe and, within the United States, as far as Alaska.

“Tara offers our students the chance to work with a full-time artist and entrepreneur who was recently in their shoes as a student here at Graceland,” said Associate Professor of Art Karen Gergely, MFA. “It’s really important that our students see how Graceland graduates have not only built successful careers but also use their talents to make a meaningful impact in the world. We want our students to be able to see themselves in a career making a living as a full-time artist, and having Tara here can help them see that reality.”

Shupe first became interested in photography in high school, but a counselor encouraged her to explore another direction. She entered Graceland as a business major and joined the volleyball team. “I played for two years, attended classes, but was struggling,” Shupe recalled. “I eventually shifted to a business minor with majors in Visual Communications and Studio Art—and I started thriving.” After graduating, she worked at an advertising agency in Omaha, Nebraska, before moving to New York to pursue fashion photography, where she honed her technical skills but realized the industry was not her path. Along the way, she discovered humanitarian photography. [Links to Shupe’s website]

Humanitarian photography emphasizes ethics, respect, and impact, ensuring that subjects are represented truthfully without exploitation. Photographers in this field often collaborate with NGOs, charities, or aid organizations for fundraising campaigns, awareness initiatives, reports, or educational materials. “Labeling myself that way defined the direction I wanted to take as an artist,” Shupe explained. “Today, I think of my work as impact-driven or purposeful storytelling.”

She identified two key pillars in her professional life. The first is a sense of being on a grand adventure, while working with passionate people making positive change, whom she calls “Hidden Heroes,” is the second. Shupe indicates those people who inspire her most are “everyday individuals making an extraordinary impact.” In addition to her photography, she works as a filmmaker and recently contributed to an Emmy-nominated series.

Conversations with young women facing adversity in different parts of the world, first shared through a podcast she created, became the foundation for Let Her Dream, her book of interviews and photo essays that documents their experiences. Spanning over 90 pages, it documents their journeys through a blend of narrative and imagery. Proceeds from the book support her ongoing humanitarian initiatives.

Shupe envisions expanding the project into a global exhibition that weaves together visual storytelling with the voices of these young women—a journey into their strengths.

That global journey begins at Graceland University with the first exhibition of Let Her Dream. The exhibit is a visual display focusing on the challenges women face while highlighting their strength, with audio components featuring women’s voices. “This has been part of the evolution of my path as a humanitarian photographer, and it all began here at Graceland,” she said. “Along the way, I’ve learned that I’m a photographer trying to do good through my work.

Join Shupe and enjoy the Let Her Dream exhibit at the Constance Gallery of the Helene Center for the Arts during Graceland University’s 100th Homecoming celebration. The exhibit is free and open to the public.