September 6-27, 2024 • Bear Gallery, Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts, Fairbanks Alaska
Boreal Echoes is the result of three years of learning, conversation, and experimentation by a cohort of artists who were inspired and informed by the boreal forest, the scientists who study it, and each other.
This exhibit was produced by the collaborative environmental arts-humanities-science program In a Time of Change (ITOC). In ITOC’s previous project, Boreal Forest Stories, artists, writers, and educators embarked on field trips, scientific presentations, and artist craft talks, then created original works inspired by the boreal biome. Following the Boreal Forest Stories exhibit, thirteen visual artists chose to continue their explorations and create Boreal Echoes. Through monthly creative group activities, the artists deepened their knowledge, sparked new collaborations, and expanded their creative horizons.
In Boreal Echoes, artists share their collaborative and individual investigations, inspirations, and care about the boreal forest and its inhabitants.
Participants & Artists (view bios)
Mary Beth Leigh – Director • Teresa Shannon and Alyssa Enriquez – Curators • Jennifer Moss – Designer • Lissy Goralnik – Research/Evaluator • Dana Lindauer and Molissa Udevitz – Educators
Artists
Susan Campbell, Alyssa Enriquez, Nancy Hausle-Johnson, Mary Bee Kaufman, Margo Klass, Jennifer Moss, Ree Nancarrow, Oralee Nudson, Teresa Shannon, Todd Sherman, Marianne Stolz, Connie Stricks, and Sara Tabbert
Acknowledgements
Boreal Echoes was made possible by the National Science Foundation through the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research Program with additional support from the USDA Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, and in-kind support from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, The MIX @UAF, UAF Institute of Arctic Biology, Fairbanks Arts Association, and other partners and contributors. ITOC is grateful to Bonanza Creek LTER Principal Investigator Michelle Mack and the many scientists who’ve collaborated and consulted with ITOC artists.
We acknowledge the many Alaska Native Nations upon whose unceded ancestral lands our program resides. Indigenous peoples have been in relationship for thousands of years with the boreal landscapes of Interior Alaska. Members of the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research program, including ITOC, strive to learn about, value, and be mindful of this relationship in our work and our actions, and to strive for collaborative, community decision making.
Mary Beth Leigh
Mary Beth Leigh is the director of the ITOC program, which she co-founded in 2007. As a professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), she teaches and conducts research in environmental microbiology and the integration of the arts, humanities, and sciences. Prior to joining UAF in 2006, she earned her B.F.A. in Modern Dance, M.S. in Botany, and Ph.D. in Microbiology — all at the University of Oklahoma – and conducted postdoctoral research at Michigan State University. As a dancer and a cellist, she’s performed in stylistically diverse ensembles over the years, often choreographing or composing pieces with a splash of science.
