Vanish - Disappearing Icons of a Rural America

We will be hosting a documentary screening of ‘Vanish’, along with Q&A with the director, Jim Westphalen.

Vanish – Disappearing Icons of a Rural America is a feature length documentary film that chronicles the “visual preservation” adventures of fine art photographer, Jim Westphalen, as he travels across the country seeking out and creating stunning imagery of America’s disappearing rural structures. The film also features deep dive interviews with preservation experts as well as the passionate people who strive and struggle to save these fading treasures, sharing their intimate stories of dreams, loss and triumphs.

Beginning with memories from Westphalen’s childhood, the Vanish film is equal parts art, history and storm chasing. Road-trip with Westphalen as he races against time and the unrelenting elements to capture the extraordinary beauty of aging barns, one room schoolhouses, grain elevators, prairie churches and all the classic structures that our country’s rural heritage was built upon.

Written, directed and produced by Jim Westphalen with Academy Award winning story consultant, Doug Blush, Vanish is a call to action; a film designed to make us sit up and notice not only the visual beauty of these structures as they stand today, but, for those who have the passion and resources, a poignant encouragement to at least maintain, if not restore these fading treasures. We are living in a period of profound historical loss all across rural America. For when these structures disappear, along with the generation that knows their stories, another piece of our heritage will be lost forever.