Meet the student artists featured in the exhibition Indie Grits Lower Richland StoryLab: Places of Freedom, along with a book reveal featuring all of the projects. These works were born of the Lower Richland StoryLab: Places of Freedom, a year-long in-school media program that focuses on the issues faced by rural communities in and around Hopkins, South Carolina, in the 21st century. With the instruction of artist-in-residence and Lower Richland native Mahkia Greene, over 50 Lower Richland High School students created new works of media art that examine their community’s past, tell its stories, challenge misconceptions, and present a vision for the future of Lower Richland County.

Lower Richland StoryLab is a collaboration between Lower Richland High School and Indie Grits Labs, an arts organization that serves Columbia and the Southeast through three central pillars: community-based arts projects, media education programs, and an annual film festival.