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October Issue
2008
The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville,
NC, Presents New Exhibitions
The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, NC, will present two traveling exhibitions including: Thoreau's Walden: A Journey in Photographs, featuring works by Scot Miller and Our Weakening Web: The Story of Extinction, both on view from Oct. 4 through Dec. 31, 2008.
Scot Miller
Thoreau's Walden: A Journey in Photographs features nearly 30 stunning photographs Miller took during a journey to explore philosopher and writer Henry David Thoreau who retreat into Walden Woods during the mid-1800s.
Miller spent five years capturing the beauty of Walden Woods in Massachusetts, which inspired Thoreau to write Walden, a monumental and cutting-edge piece of conservationist literature when it was written in the 1840s. The result is an intimate and beautiful glimpse into the natural setting that sparked Thoreau's mind and passion, resulting in a beloved book that is still taught in many classrooms.
Specimens and artifacts connected with Thoreau, an eight-minute video about Thoreau's legacy in the field of environmentalism and conservation, as well as hands-on nature activities bring forest ecology to life to this exhibit. Guided school group tours are also available for students in kindergarten through eighth-grade.
This exhibit is presented by the Harvard Museum of Natural History with educational material provided by the Walden Woods Project, and tour management provided by Cincinnati Museum Center.
The exhibit Our Weakening Web: The Story of Extinction explores more than 500 million years of natural history and extinction patterns through interpretive and hands-on exhibits and lifelike dioramas.
Guests of all ages will learn about the ecological relationship that binds life together as well as how their actions may help balance the human impact on nature. Interactive stations in the exhibit will provide opportunities for discovery and conversation about extinction - a natural process that has been occurring since the beginning of life on Earth.
Exhibit stations include: Local Lifesaving, a problem-solving area where guests choose options to minimize the impact of extinction; and Deep Woods in Trouble, an electronic map that compares old-growth forests from the year 1620 with old-growth forests of today.
Other proactive and inspirational exhibit features include two large dioramas that illustrate how both construction and conservation impact the environment, as well as interactive panels that illustrate how extinction has taken place from 530 million years ago up until 100 years ago.
This exhibit was produced by the Cincinnati Museum Center.
"These exhibits are a perfect way for guests to explore a personal connection to the natural landscape," said The Arboretum's Executive Director George Briggs. "Both Our Weakening Web and Thoreau's Walden brings The North Carolina Arboretum's mission of cultivating connections between people and plants to life through beauty, storytelling, hands-on learning opportunities, and discovery."
For further information check our NC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the Arboretum at 828/665-2492 or visit
(www.ncarboretum.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2008 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.