Lowe Mill

Huntsville, Alabama

Our first Alliance Collection Gallery was opened in the Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment district in Huntsville Alabama.

Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment is the largest privately owned arts facility in the United States. With a focus on visual arts, this historic factory building has been redeveloped into 148 working studios for over 200 artists and craftsmen. It boast 6 galleries, a theatre, and performance venues.

On opening night we were fortunate to have former Ranger and Nashville musician Keni Thomas come and play a private performance for our guests. More on Keni Thomas below.

We had just over 20 photographers, all veterans who submitted work at the Lowe MIll. To date we have over 40 photographers from around the globe and growing.

"See for yourself - The talent of our nation's best is on display at the Alliance Collection. The exhibit is like walking into a National Geographic setting.

The images are that powerful."

Keni Thomas

Keni Thomas is an American country music singer and former United States Army Ranger. Thomas was a member of Task Force Ranger as a part of Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, and served in the Battle of Mogadishu, later depicted in the movie Black Hawk Down. Thomas works as a motivational speaker drawing from this experience as a US Ranger.

As a country singer, Thomas has recorded several independently released albums. Two singles, from the album Flags of Our Fathers: A Soldier's Story charted on the Billboard country music charts.

On opening night, Thomas recorded a performance of "Hold the Line" in front of friends and family of the Alliance Collection, to include veterans from Mogadishu at the famous Tangled String Studios inside the Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment.

Rich Poverty’s Jesse Wallace, Kevin Winkler and Gabriel Wallace captured the performance at Tangled

The people who made this possible

This gallery, this show was not possible without the help of many. From talented photographers who submitted their work to local sponsors who helped finance this show. Our sponsors made it possible to showcase these amazing images and stories in a respectful setting that Lowe Mill ARTS provides.

The images were printed by master photographer and print guru Bill Teoh. Bill has a studio inside the Lowe Mill ARTS & Entertainment. Bill took our show under his care and guidance. It’s one thing to shoot photography, it’s a whole other world to print and hang gallery quality shots. Bill Teoh was the single most important person to our project. Bill remains a mentor to Rich Poverty to this day.

We had two of our overseas members fly in to help set up the gallery for opening night. Katharina Gelver (Germany) was our gallery coordinator and Vincent Bordignon (Belgium) assisted in gallery coordination and was one of our featured photographers. Both were instrumental in making the show a success.

We owe much thanks and praise for those who donated much help for the set up and opening. Craig and Angie Story, Pete Formica, Dylan Wallace and Robert Atkins. Our film crew, Jesse Wallace, Kevin Winkler and Gabriel Wallace.