EXTENDED STAY : APPALACHIA
JOURNEY INSIDE AMERICA'S SHADOW HOUSING SYSTEM
KAREN LIPPOWITHS
AN IMMERSIVE INSTALLATION
BY DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER
HUNTINGTON, WV
COMING IN 2027
WITH SUPPORT AND IN COLLABORATION WITH
Families in extended-stay hotels spend an average of $1,852 per month (77% of income) on housing, MORE THAN THE AVERAGE APARTMENT RENT. mOST are EXCLUDED FROM homelessness funding DESPITE LACKING A PERMANENT HOME.
- GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY cENTER ON HEALTH AND HOMELESSNESS
Families in extended stay hotels spend an average of $1,852 per month (77% of income) on housing, MORE THAN THE AVERAGE APARTMENT RENT. mOST are EXCLUDED FROM homelessness funding DESPITE LACKING A PERMANENT HOME.
- GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY cENTER ON HEALTH AND HOMELESSNESS
THE PROBLEM
HOUSING INSECURITY HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT
Across America, rising housing costs and limited affordable housing force an increasing number of families into extended stay hotels and motels. Spaces designed for temporary travelers now largely function as long-term housing for hundreds of thousands. Appalachia is particularly vulnerable to housing instability; Northeast Tennessee reported a 37% increase in homelessness in 2025 alone.*
Tucked behind freeway exits and commercial corridors, motel residents live a fragile existence between housing and homelessness, often paying rents that exceed typical apartment costs while lacking leases, tenant protections, and long-term stability.
These residents are among the most vulnerable: low-wage workers, seniors, children, migrants, disabled veterans, and individuals facing addiction, health challenges, and economic hardship. They remain largely undercounted in official homelessness data, excluded from federal resources, and invisible in the national conversation around housing insecurity.
*echoes of appalachia
1 IN 6 CHILDREN IN AMERICA
EXPERIENCES HOUSING INSECURITY
- JAMA PEDIATRICS (2024)
WHY NOW?
RAPID ACCELERATION
Since 2020, housing insecurity has intensified ~ 33% across the United States.* Despite hopeful gains in unemployment and overall homeownership in the region, Appalachians earn below-average incomes ($14,000 below the national average of $78,538)** and experience a higher than average household poverty rate (14% compared to 10.6% nationwide).*** Families are increasingly pushed into extended-stay motels as long-term housing, reflecting a broader system in which traditional pathways to stable housing erode faster than they are replaced. Key forces include:
- Post-pandemic insecurity
- Economic disruption
- Wage stagnation
- Aging and unmaintained housing stock
- Institutional financialization of real estate
- Housing unaffordability
- Rising rents
* CALCULATION DERIVED FROM HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT (HUD) ANNUAL HOMELESS ASSESSMENT REPORTS (AHAR). 580,466 IN 2020 AND 770,000 IN 2024.
** POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU
*** 2024 CENSUS REPORT
THE PROJECT
VISITORS DON'T VIEW THE EXHIBIT, THEY INHABIT IT
EXTENDED STAY: APPALACHIA is an immersive documentary installation that reveals the hidden world of families living long term in extended-stay hotels across Appalachia.
At the West Edge Factory in Huntington, West Virginia, photographer, Karen Lippowiths, will construct a full-scale replica motel environment, transforming industrial space into a fully immersive installation. Visitors do not simply view the work; they move through and inhabit it.
Built from field photography, recorded sound, video, and environmental detail gathered across the region, each room becomes a reconstructed site of lived experience. Hallways, check-in spaces, and motel interiors immerse audiences in the spatial reality of life between housing and homelessness.
By merging documentary practice with large-scale installation, EXTENDED STAY : APPALACHIA turns invisible housing conditions into a physical, embodied environment.
53% of sheltered homeless individuals and 40% of unsheltered individuals are employed
- BECKER FRIEDMAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMICS
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
PRELIMINARY BLUEBRINT
40' x 30' IMMERSIVE INSTALLATION
PROPOSED IMMERSIVE ELEMENTS:
- Documentary photography, video projection, and sound design
- front desk check-in experience
- Recreated spaces exploring themes of home, time, dreams, and survival
- The "Ceiling of Dreams," featuring residents' hopes, goals, and reflections
- Peepholes to view different experiences
- Interactive room-service phones with resident oral histories
- Hidden "easter eggs" embedded throughout rooms and furnishings
- ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN CREATING SPATIAL EXPERIENCE
- Maps tracing movement and displacement across Appalachia
- Check-out cards prompting visitors to make real-world choices
- A motel registry documenting those who came before
- SECRET PASSAGE WITH A HIDDEN EXPERIENCE
- Key rack with variable key selection
- "Pull back the curtain" discovery zones
- Lost & found cabinet
- Interactive one-way bathroom mirrors
- "What makes a home" wall inviting visitors to comment and contribute
- Funraising efforts benefiting local housing non-profit
- REVIEW BOARD ("1 STAR - TOTAL DUMP!")
- Housing unaffordability MAP
- IN ADDITION TO THE INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE, ORIGINAL LIMITED EDITION FINE ART PRINTS AND A PRINTED BOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE. A PORTION OF PROCEEDS WILL BENEFIT A LOCAL NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION (TBD).
- Families
- Children
- Veterans
- transient Workers
- Seniors
- migrants
- addicted
- medically fragile
- mentally ill
- illegal activity
- mentally ill
ETHICAL
APPROACH
EXTENDED STAY: APPALACHIA is grounded in collaboration with participants and a commitment to dignity in how their stories are told. All content is secured through informed [verbal] consent (as appropriate) and ethical documentary practice. Participants are clearly informed about how their stories and images will be used. The project prioritizes dignity, accuracy, and non-exploitative representation in all documentation and exhibition contexts. Sensitive field work may include:
DOCUMENTING WITH DIGNITY
PROJECT GOALS
AWARENESS BEGETS ACTION
The goal of EXTENDED STAY : APPALACHIA is to transform economic data into human experience, revealing how temporary lodging becomes permanent housing for those facing poverty, displacement, recovery, and economic instability.
Beyond its documentary and artistic aims, the project will help raise awareness, foster community dialogue, and support tangible support and fundraising efforts for organizations working directly with affected communities.
- Housing advocates
- non-profit service providers
- Policymakers
- public agencies
- Legislative stakeholders
- MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
- Academic & research communities
- Documentary & photography communities
- Museums, galleries, & creative institutions
- General public
- Public dialogue
- Educational programming
- Housing advocacy engagement
- Community partnerships
- SUPPORT & FUNDRAISING
"ONLY 1 IN 7 PEOPLE WHO BECOMES HOMELESS HAS A MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEM,
BUT VIRTUALLY EVERYONE WHO STAYS ON THE STREETS FOR A LONG TIME DEVELOPS ONE."
- TOM STEYER
2026 CA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE
"EZRA KLEIN GRILLS CA'S POSSIBLE GOVERNORS"
13 STATES
9 MONTHS
5 SUBREGIONS
30 FIELD VISITS
7000 ROAD MILES
Over a nine-month reporting period July 2026 - March 2027, Lippowiths will conduct approximately 30 field visits spanning all five Appalachian subregions and 13 states. Focusing on counties identified as economically distressed or at risk by the Appalachian Regional Commission, Lippowiths will reside in local motels, speak with residents and local stakeholders to examine the ways people create stability and a sense of home within spaces intended to be temporary.
JOURNEY THROUGH APPALACHIA
FIELDWORK & REPORTING
CORNING, NY
CUMBERLAND, MD
JAMESTOWN, NY
JOHNSTOWN, PA
LEWISTOWN, PA
PITTSBURGH, PA
STEUBENVILLE, OH
YOUNGSTOWN, OH
SOUTHERN
ATHENS, OH
BECKLEY, WV
BLUEFIELD, WV
HUNTINGTON, WV
PORTSMOUTH, OH
NORTH CENTRAL
BEATTYVILLE, KY
PIGEION FORGE, TN
WHITESBURG, KY
LAFOLLETTE, TN
LOGAN, WV
WELCH, WV
SOUTH CENTRAL
ASHEVILLE, NC
GALAX, VA
KINGSPORT, TN
KNOXVILLE, TN
PIKEVILLE, TN
NORTHERN
CENTRAL
HUNTINGTON, WV
YOUNGSTOWN, OH
APPALACHIAN SUBREGIONS
TENTATIVE FIELD WORK & REPORTING ITINERARY UPDATED 6/14/26
ANNISTON, AL
BIRMINGHAM, AL
DALTON, GA
GAFFNEY, SC
TUPELO, MS
HUNTINGTON, WV
YOUNGSTOWN, OH
ANNISTON, AL
BIRMINGHAM, AL
DALTON, GA
GAFFNEY, SC
TUPELO, MS
SOUTHERN
ASHEVILLE, NC
GALAX, VA
KINGSPORT, TN
KNOXVILLE, TN
PIKEVILLE, TN
SOUTH CENTRAL
BEATTYVILLE, KY
BIG STONE GAP, VA
WHITESBURG, KY
LAFOLLETTE, TN
LOGAN, WV
WELCH, WV
CENTRAL
ATHENS, OH
BECKLEY, WV
BLUEFIELD, WV
HUNTINGTON, WV
PORTSMOUTH, OH
NORTH CENTRAL
CORNING, NY
CUMBERLAND, MD
JAMESTOWN, NY
JOHNSTOWN, PA
LEWISTOWN, PA
PITTSBURGH, PA
STEUBENVILLE, OH
YOUNGSTOWN, OH
NORTHERN
TENTATIVE FIELD WORK & REPORTING ITINERARY
UPDATED 6/14/26
APPALACHIAN SUBREGIONS
Jamestown, NY
Ithaca, NY
State College, PA
Youngstown, OH
Travel Home
TRAVEL SCHEDULE
7 / 13
7 / 14
7 / 15
7 / 16
7 / 17
Johnstown, PA
Cumberland, MD
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Travel Home
8 / 18
8 / 19
8 / 20
8 / 21
8 / 22
Athens, OH
Beckley, WV
Galax, VA
Portsmouth, OH
Travel Home
9 / 8
9 / 9
9 / 10
9 / 11
9 / 12
Steubenville, OH
Pittsburgh, PA
Travel Home
9 / 23
9 / 24
9 / 25
Logan, WV
Bluefield, VA
Gafney, SC
Asheville, NC
Kingsport, TN
Travel Home
10 / 12
10 / 13
10 / 14
10 / 15
10 / 16
10 / 17
Whitesburg, KY
Pigeon Forge, TN
Atlanta, GA
Dalton, GA
Lafollette, TN
Beattyville, KY
Travel Home
1 / 4
1 / 5
1 / 6
1 / 7
1 / 8
1 / 9
1 / 10
Knoxville, TN
Anniston, AL
Birmingham, AL
Birmingham, AL
Tupelo, MS
Pikeville, TN
Travel Home
3 / 6
3 / 7
3 / 8
3 / 9
3 / 10
3 / 11
3 / 12
AS OF 7/2/26
ALL ROUTES ORIGINATE FROM SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN
I'm always grateful for help with the project. Specifically, if you know of someone who would like to participate and tell their story, residents "on the ground" in the cities listed above, housing policy officials, and potential financial donors, please be in touch. Thank you.
Travel through Appalachia with me as I discover the hidden realities of America’s shadow housing system in EXTENDED STAY : APPALACHIA.
Subscribe for project updates, travel highlights, and behind-the-scenes stories from the road.
JOURNEY WITH ME
karen@karenlippowiths.com
248 320 1943 (EST)
CREATIVE VISION
INTIMATE, INTERIOR, UNVARNISHED
EXTENDED STAY : APPALACHIA embraces a documentary aesthetic balancing intimate storytelling with a strong sense of place. Drawing from social documentary and humanist photography, the work centers lived experience, resilience, and economic hardship without sensationalism.
Lippowiths is known for her cinematic, analog-inspired style with rich texture and nuanced dynamic range. She photographs primarily in 16:9 wide format, using a cinéma vérité approach. Color grading includes warm tungsten-toning and muted black and whites. Her work is marked by a quiet, understated intimacy and restrained visual subtlety that counterbalances the harshness of the subject matter.
Architecturally, the physical exhibit explores the disorienting qualities of transient spaces through corridors, repetitive rooms, fluorescent lighting, layered sound, and ambiguous thresholds. Using reclaimed motel-like objects and immersive spatial design, it creates environments that feel both familiar and unsettling. The result blends documentary realism with immersive installation, inviting visitors into a liminal world existing between stability and impermanence, home and displacement.
PHOTOGRAPHIC TREATMENT
ALL REFERENCE PHOTOGRAPHS HEREIN AND THROUGHOUT SITE BY KAREN LIPPOWITHS
Artist stipend for field WORK, production, project development across all phases of DEVELOPMENT
ARTIST STIPEND FOR FIELDWORK & CREATIVE LABOR
(15000)
WORKSHOPS, ARTIST TALKS, COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS, OUTREACH & EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & PUBLIC PROGRAMS
($10000)
SIGNAGE, EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, POST CARD CAMPAIGN
MARKETING & SOCIAL MEDIA
($5000)
PRINTING OF LARGE FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHY, BINDING, FRAMING, PACKAGING, DELIVERY, INSTALLATION
FINE ART PRINT & BOOK PRODUCTION
($10000)
PROJECTION, LIGHTING, AUDIO VISUAL EQUIPMENT, EXHIBITION BUILD-OUT
INSTALLATION & TECHNICAL PRODUCTION
($10000)
CONSTRUCTION OF FULL-SCALE MOTEL ENVIRONMENT, FURNISHINGS & DECOR, INTERACTIVE INSTALLATIONS
EXHIBIT FABRICATION
($20000)
FIELD RECORDING, EDITING, SOUND DESIGN, MULTIMEDIA CREATION
AUDIO VISUAL PRODUCTION
($5000)
EQUIPMENT, STORAGE, IMAGE EDITING, ARCHIVAL MANAGEMENT
PHOTOGRAPHY / DOCUMENTATION
($5000)
LODGING, MEALS, TRANSPORTATION, LOCATION ACCESS, INTERVIEWS ACROSS APPALACHIA
TRAVEL & FIELD WORK
($10000)
- Foundation & Arts Grant Support
- Individual Donors & Sponsorship
- In-Kind Contributions & Fabrications
- Institutional & Community Partnership
- Artist Investment & Earned Revenue
Artist Investment & Earned Revenue
FUNDING SOURCES :
Funding will support documentary fieldwork, construction of a full-scale replica motel environment at the West Edge Factory, immersive exhibit production, and public programming designed to foster dialogue around housing insecurity in Appalachia.
TOTAL PROJECT BUDGET : $90,000
AMOUNT REQUESTED : $78,500
UPDATED 6/14/26
BUDGET & FUNDING NEED
- Deinstallation of immersive motel environment
- Packing and archival storage of installation components
- Final documentation of exhibition
- Post-exhibition reporting and evaluation
- Preparation for Phase 2
- Final documentation package
- Impact + evaluation report
CLOSE & DEINSTALL
NOV 16 - DEC 1, 2027
- Public opening event at West Edge Factory
- Press preview + guided walkthroughs
- Community and stakeholder engagement programming
- Exhibition Run
- Weekly visitation + scheduled programming
- Artist talks, housing advocacy panels, academic visits
- Documentation of audience experience and response
EXHIBIT RUN
OCT 1 - NOV 15, 2027
- Full fabrication and installation of motel environment
- Construction of room(s), hallway elements, and thresholds
- Lighting installation
- Audio system integration
- Projection + media installation
- Final testing and walkthroughs
WEST EDGE BUILD
SEP 10 - SEP 24, 2027
- Social media rollout (staged reveal of motel environments)
- Press / PARTNER outreach (arts, architecture, housing policy media)
- Trailer / short-form video content released
- Event invitations and opening coordination
- FINALIZE BUILD PRODUCTION SCHEDULE
MARKETING & PR CAMPAIGN
JUN 27 - SEP 27
- CURATE & PRINT FINE ART SALE PRINTS
- DESIGN & PRINT EXHIBIT CATALOG / BOOK / PUBLICATION
PRINT & CATALOG
PRODUCTION
MAY 27 - JUL 27
- EDIT & SEQUENCE PHOTOGRAPHS
- BUILD THEMATIC CATEGORIES
- FINALIZE BUILD BLUEPRINTS
- BUILD / MATERIALS LIST & SECURE BUILD TEAM
- BUILD PRELIMINARY EXHIBITION NARRATIVE EXHIBIT STRUCTURE
- PROCURE EPHEMERA AND EXHIBIT FUNISHINGS
POST-PRODUCTION & PRELIMINARY BUILD
DEC 26 - MAY 27
- TRAVEL LOOPS 1-5
- DOCUMENT, PHOTOGRAPH, INTERVIEW
- BEGIN EDITING AND CONTENT PRODUCTION
fieldwork & documentary
production
JUL 26 - MAR 27
- finalize travel routes
- develop architectural schematic
- initiate location outreach
- lock budget and funding source
- PLAN SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS (INSTAGRAM + FACEBOOK + YOUTUBE) PLATFORMS
pre-production
JUN 26 - AUG 26
JUNE 2026 - DECEMBER 2027
TIMELINE
UPDATED 6/14/26
ARTIST'S BIO
KAREN LIPPOWITHS
Karen Lippowiths is a 20-year-veteran photographer based in Southeast Michigan.
Specifically, she is interested in social issue stories centered around housing insecurity and work. She explores structural and intimate choices people make resulting from long-standing barriers of race, class, gender, and the forces of societal and political change.
Her work, including in-depth overage of the Detroit Tenants Union struggle during the six-month Leland House evacuation and displacement, has been featured nationwide and internationally in media and publications.
Throughout her career, she has generated consistent six-figure annual sales, delivered more than one million commissioned images, and served over 1,000 clients across portrait, documentary, and commercial work. Her background combines creative direction with hands-on operational leadership, including large-scale team coordination, production management, community organizing, exhibit and installation development, and design/build fabrication.
She conceived of the Extended Stay project in July 2025 while working in Santa Fe, NM and has visited and documented several cities and residences to-date.
Lippowiths holds a B.A. in history from the University of Michigan with coursework at the Université Paris I - Sorbonne. A self-taught photographer, she formerly traveled and lectured as a keynote speaker part of the Professional Photographers of America. Her work has won several juried awards and has appeared in solo and group juried exhibits.
Lippowiths has lived and traveled throughout the world, including Paris, New York, and Chicago. She currently resides just outside of Ann Arbor with her husband and son.
248 320 1943 (EST)
karen@karenlippowiths.com
@ karenlippowiths
- 20+ YEAR AWARD-WINNING PHOTOGRAPHER
- $100,000+ CONSISTENT ANNUAL GROSS SALES
- 1 MILLION+ COMMISSIONED IMAGES SOLD
- 1000+ CLIENTS SERVED
- LARGE-SCALE TEAM & PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- COMMUNITY ORGANIZING
- PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT
- DESIGN / BUILD FABRICATION & MANAGEMENT