Happy Earth Day!

CELEBRATE EARTH DAY — APRIL 22

Earth Day reminds us of our responsibility to utilize environmental conservation and sustainability methods to help us take care of the planet we call home.

ExhibitsUSA offers traveling exhibitions that celebrate our remarkable planet and encourage us to come together and take action for a healthier planet and brighter future. 

                                         

In The State of Water: Our Most Valuable Resource, Guggenheim award-winning photographer Brad Temkin puts visitors face-to-face with the systems and techniques that deliver our most valuable natural resource. In doing so, the exhibition encourages us to see water conservation as a process we can all get involved in.

In this interview, he shares his path to water and his enduring optimism as humanity seeks to fix our mistakes and works to sustain our natural resources.

 

 

Murmurations: For the Love of Birds explores the topic of avian conservation through ceramics, soundscapes, textiles, and photography. This exhibition lends itself to a variety of audience engagement opportunities like facilitated discussions about climate activism, guided bird walks, and citizen science and art projects.

 

In Walking in Antarctica, artist Helen Glazer brings together photography, sculpture, and audio narrative to take the viewer on a journey through extraordinary Antarctic landscapes and explores the intersections between the natural world, the artistic process, and climate change discourse.

Take a virtual tour of the Fairfield University Art Museum’s Display of Walking in Antarctica here!

 

In Art of the Wish, artists Marn Jensen and Andy Newcom repurpose discarded objects like serving trays, rusty tin boxes, and old photo frames to share the stories of elders whose wishes invite us to think about our relationship with the world around us.

 

“I wish everyone would dig in the dirt and plant some flowers. They always make you happy.” — Carolyn, late stages of hospice care, shared by Melissa (St. Luke’s Hospice House)

Watch this short video to learn about what motivated the artists to create Art of the Wish and to hear from some of the people whose wishes inspired artworks featured in the exhibition.

 

There is a lot we can learn from the Maya people as holders of ancestral knowledge and stewards of the earth. From leading advocacy campaigns to sharing strategies that increase soil fertility and decrease erosion, their respectful and reciprocal relationship with nature has allowed them to conserve and protect their ancestral lands from threats like forest destruction and damaging resource extraction.

Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Quiche through Illustration, features artwork inspired by a Mayan sacred text depicting the creation of the universe and all living things.

Images from the top:  Helen Glazer, “Bird” Ventifact, Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 2015/2017; photograph, 14 3/4 x 22 inches (image), 14 3/4 x 22 1/4 inches (frame); Courtesy of the artist.; Brad Temkin, Inlet, Los Angeles, California, 2018; ink on paper, 32 x 40 inches; Courtesy of the artist; Brad Tempkin Headshot, Photo by Jamey Stillings, courtesy of the artist; Carmen Ostermann, Canary (Caged), 2023; high-fire porcelain, wood, bird cage, chain, 144 x 48 x 48 inches; Courtesy of the artist.; Helen Glazer, Panorama of Canada Glacier from Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, 2015/2017; photograph, 16 x 72 inches (image), 16 1/2 inches (frame); Courtesy of the artist.; Roger Bruhn, Photograph of Patrick Dougherty’s Three of a Kind, Private Residence in Nebraska, 2013; digital photograph, 10 7/8 x 16 3/8; Courtesy of Karen and Robert Duncan; Steven Michael Hall, installation view of Small Wonders, 2016; digital image; Courtesy of Steven Michael’s Photography, Tulsa, OK.; Marn Jensen, Untitled (I wish every artist would know . . . ), 2018; vintage paint brush, artist box, ceramic letters, 18 x 10 x 2 inches; Courtesy of the artist.; Andy Newcom, Untitled (My parents didn’t know what to do . . . ), 2018; antique photo, brooch, cookie cutter, antique, 24 x 11 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches; Courtesy of the artist; Jaime Arredondo, The Hero Twins Bring Flowers to the Lords of the Underworld, 2019; printed reproduction of marker on paper, 24 x 24 inches (exact reproduction dimensions TBD)