The “Remember Me” art exhibit, created by Jane Waggoner Deschner, is being shown at the Museum of Art Fort Collins through March 16. This exhibit captures the diversity of human experience with thousands of black-and-white portraits combined with quotes from newspaper obituaries.

The exhibit is made up of about 1,200 portraits, although Deschner has gathered about 70,000 portraits over the span of more than 20 years. The photos came from people of every state in the United States, as well as most provinces of Canada.

On each wall of the exhibit, several portraits from long ago are matched with obituaries on varying topics, giving each picture life beyond what can be observed on the surface.

“It makes you think,” museumgoer Bodhi Werner-Salsbury said. “Seeing a normal photo, you can assume so much about a person. But with the text, you can see what their loved ones thought about them.”

Topics were given with following quotes for context. Collecting: “He enjoyed collecting things that remind him of his childhood.” Traveling and exploring the world: “She loved road trips and nothing more than ocean waves crashing.” Pride in accomplishment: “She loved cleaning her home she worked so hard for.” Personal mottos: “Her motto ‘Chin up, Chest out, and March” helped her keep a positive attitude during her years as a single mother.”

Beyond the photos, several objects serve as set pieces to create an immersive experience — almost as if you’re stepping into an old home where several decades of life have been weathered.

“I was struck by how many memories were brought back by a lot of the vignettes and installations, as well as the photographs. It’s two generations removed from us at our age; (Andy and I) are about 45 or 50 years old. Those are the objects and photographs of our grandparents.” -Allison Alter, museumgoer

Items like afghans, rotary telephones and a small table with a checkerboard and an ashtray bring the experiences of several people into one nostalgic museum trip.

“Some of the nonphoto items in the exhibit are items I have inherited from my parents and grandparents,” museumgoer Andy Weiss said. “It’s kind of fun to see those things in the display because it’s like you have a personal connection to it through your own family.”

The portraits paint a character, but the quotes enable people to envision a whole life beyond the faces in the photos. Some of these tales may be upbeat or triumphant, but others harbor mourning and the sorrow associated with it.

“There was a photograph of a young man in a navy uniform,” museumgoer Karen McNey said. “The quote was that he survived D-Day, but his brother died there. And he spent a lot of time after the war just looking at documentaries and photographs, hoping to see pictures of his brother who had died. I thought that was extremely touching.”

The energy around the museum gives an at-home feel, making it feel as if attendees are visiting their grandparents’ house instead of a museum. Each portrait is monochrome and many have vignettes, and the objects displayed are aged rather than contemporary. The exhibit is a window to a time long past, as it is a showcase of the human experience.

“I was struck by how many memories were brought back by a lot of the vignettes and installations, as well as the photographs,” said Allison Alter, a museumgoer. “It’s two generations removed from us at our age; (Andy and I) are about 45 or 50 years old. Those are the objects and photographs of our grandparents.”

The exhibit captures diversity, but it captures connectivity just as much. Each portrait isn’t baseless drabble; attendees see themselves and their own loved ones in the portraits of strangers.

“It’s not only an interesting exhibit to interpret what you’re seeing, but there’s an internal connection you have to it as well,” Alter said.

This is precisely the intent of the exhibit and what it looks to convey to the audience.

“This aggregation of memories calls attention to the universality of human experiences, especially love and loss,” the exhibit’s synopsis reads. “Engaging with the anonymous, remixed tributes simulates nostalgia, evokes warm personal memories and reminds us of our social connections.”

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then each portrait in the exhibit is its own biography. Thus, “Remember Me” is a library of the human condition, one we are all familiar with.

The exhibit will remain on display until March 16. Tickets are $10, but CSU students get free admission with their RamCard.

Reach Robert Sides at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.