The Red Wall Gallery inside Lake Ontario Hall on Grand Valley State University’s Allendale Campus is now displaying new photography, which highlights the school’s foreign exchange program with Kingston University in London.

“Our aim is to highlight the 25th anniversary of the Kingston-GVSU exchange program,” said Rebecca Hambleton, director of study abroad and international partnerships at GVSU. “It seemed like the perfect opportunity to give the GVSU community a glimpse of what our students are experiencing when they study on the Kingston exchange program.”

The gallery features 26 photographs taken by students and staff who have studied in the program over the past few years. The photos show their travels to Kingston and the area surrounding London.
While the university offers many study abroad programs, the Kingston-GVSU exchange program takes in the most students each year, Hambleton said.

“This program is very compatible from a curricular standpoint and has been an outstanding place for students to study,” Hambleton said.

The study abroad program began in 1986 and is still available for students and staff to enroll.

“This is a very important partnership for GVSU,” Hambleton said. “I have personally enjoyed working with so many wonderful colleagues from Kingston and GVSU over the years.”

GVSU sophomore Hannah Wallaker said the photographs sparked her interest in the exchange program.

“I’m totally jealous that they got to go there,” Wallaker said. “It’s a great place obviously, and there’s so much to see. It’s definitely something I wish I could do, for sure.”

Hambleton said the program is having a large impact on GVSU students, which is why the schools continue their relationship.

“The stories we hear when students return help you understand just how important these opportunities are in shaping a person’s life forever,” Hambleton said.

Wallaker said that people should go to the gallery to find out more about GVSU’s study abroad program.

“I don’t think a lot of people know about it,” Wallaker said. “It would be good for people to just take a look and say, ‘Oh hey, these girls actually did do this and they got to experience something that was probably life-changing for them.‘”

“The Grand Valley State University and Kingston University: 25 Years of Cultural and Educational Exchange” gallery exhibit runs until Oct. 31, and is free to the public.

For more information on the gallery, go to www.gvsu.edu/artgallery.

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