MURPHYSBORO - A special event next month will unveil the images and stories collected by more than 30 students from Southern Illinois University Carbondale during an October weekend workshop to the public.

For three days in October, the group of photojournalism students swarmed Murphysboro, documenting a weekend in the life of the city under the guidance of SIUC professors and professional journalists from across the country. Now, the photos and stories they collected from the weekend will be unveiled in the form of a gallery display and a live Web site.

"It's exciting," said Mark Dolan, an associate professor at SIUC who organized the weekend workshop. "It feels good to be getting close to that point where we can show off the work. It's also a little nerve-racking because there's a lot of work still to do."

On Dec. 13, the public will be invited to the unveiling of the new Web site, which remains under construction by an SIUC class, and a gallery-style display of the best photographs captured during the weekend.

Barbara Dallas, the Murphysboro liaison for the project, said the city embraces the benefits of being involved with a project that has educational impacts for students as well as benefits for the community.

"I think everyone will be very pleased and very proud," she said. "This is a tool that will not only help us with tourism but also our economic development efforts."

After the premiere event, the gallery-style photos will be moved to the General John A. Logan Museum, where they will remain through the end of the year. They will then likely be split between the tourism commission and the Chamber of Commerce for use around the community, Dallas said.

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