Editor's Note: This opening reception was rescheduled for Saturday after inclement weather last weekend.

The opening reception for "They Left 150 Years Ago," a traveling exhibit of photographs and interviews depicting the lives of people in contemporary Finland and Finnish-America will be held on Saturday, Feb. 21. The event begins at 1 p.m. in 105 Cohodas Hall at Northern Michigan University. Admission is free and hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served. 

The works on display are by fine art photographer Jason DeBose, a native of Pasadena, Calif., who has been based in Helsinki since 2007. He has built a collective portrait of both branches of Finland’s population (those who migrated and those who remained) to illustrate just what may be observable today that developed in tandem in the ensuing years from the thickest waves of migration.

The exhibit addresses the following question: “Could several generations of intermarriage combined with integration have decimated what these Finnish-American generations left behind?” DeBose’s work depicts the imprint made by the departing generations through the eyes of those alive today.

"They Left 150 Years Ago" will be on display through March 28. Center hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday. For more information, call 227-3212.