EcoArt exhibit opens at UMES’ Mosely Gallery
“EcoArt: Intersections of Art, Science and Activism” opens at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Mosely Gallery Nov. 6 with a 3 p.m. lecture and a reception from 4-6 p.m.
“As the title suggests, the media and the activities used by ecological artists are diverse,” Susan Holt, Mosely Gallery director, said. “EcoArt often is inspired by or uses scientific information about nature to educate society and to bring about political activism to restore or preserve it.”
The exhibit, held in partnership with the university’s natural and environmental sciences department and the Wicomico Environmental Trust, features environmental art from two local artists, Joan Maloof and Peter Stern; a local organic farmer, Jay Martin; and regional artists Mark Cooley, and Krissanne Baker and the Beehive Design Collective, both of Maine.
Cooley, a professor of new media at James Mason University, presents the opening lecture, which takes place in UMES’ Richard A. Henson Hall, room 1116. The mission of a collaboration of the arts and the sciences is “working across the boundaries of ecosystem science, art and design fields to share knowledge, expertise and strategies for creatively engaging in the common pursuit of a sustainable future.”
Joan Maloof, professor emeritus at Salisbury University, founded the Old-Growth Forest Network “to preserve, protect and promote the country’s few remaining stands of old-growth forest.” She will display enlarged illustration of her books and an installation of tagged tree branches which honor the victims of 9-11.
Aerial photographs of the Eastern Shore from Peter Stern’s Nentego project add to the exhibit. Stern’s artist statement explains, “In my work, I seek out the in-between places, the odd, the unusual, the overlooked, the forgotten… presenting them in a way that draws the viewer into a third space, somewhere between the abstract and the representational.”
Martin, an organic farmer from Bivalve, contributes a pop-up show from The Lexicon of Sustainability™, which is based on the principle, “People will live more sustainably if they understand the most basic terms and principles that will define the next economy.”
Ecological artist and activist, Baker, relays messages “concerning water quality, availability and rights.” His artist statement reads: “We are seduced by waters’ beauty; mesmerized and awed by its’ power or soothing meditative qualities, and have taken it for granted for far too long. It’s necessary to remember the limits of the give and take system between this planet and its inhabitants—that person-by-person, it is possible to turn the tide of our current failing environment and humanity.”
The Beehive Design Collective is a “wildly motivated, all-volunteer, activist arts collective dedicated to ‘cross-pollinating the grassroots’ by creating collaborative, anti-copyright images for use as educational and organizing tools. We work as word-to-image translators of complex global stories, shared with us through conversations with affected communities.” The Mosely Gallery will showcase several of the group’s graphic posters.
The show is on display through Nov. 26. The Mosely Gallery is free and open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 410-651-7770 or visitwww.moselygallery.com for more information.
