We are announcing that the inaugural eARTh exhibition will be open for viewing on May 17th, 2021. As you explore the exhibition, we hope that the intersection between the sciences and the arts yields new realizations about the way you, the viewer, think about human activities and our changing climate.
On April 23rd, we sent out a call to the student body for art that responded to a prompt about human’s relationship to the environment (image right). With an eye to COVID-19 and the current state of the campus, we decided to make the first exhibition hybrid in order to be able to accept art from off-campus students and share the complete show with the whole community.
Opening May 17th, the Bowdoin community can view the virtual exhibition through this platform. From May 17th through May 21st, Bowdoin students on campus can view select pieces in the Roux Center.
Students responded to our call and brought their own relationship with the Earth into the exhibition. For some students, art was a way to process the varying emotions—fear, confusion, anger —we feel about climate change. For others, art was a way to express appreciation for nature. Art was also a tool for activism. Their work brings the viewer into the discussion of climate change and asks the audience to consider our individual impact on the Earth. Artists used composition, repetition, natural materials, manmade materials, and more to communicate the severity of climate change.
We have given you two ways to explore the exhibition. The “gallery” page is space to experience the artwork in a curated order. The “artist statement” page focuses on the artist’s responses to the prompts.
Enjoy exploring the exhibition and thank you for visiting! We hope to continue the exhibition in future years when we’ll be able to bring everyone into the Roux Center to appreciate art together.
Best,
Ana Gunther ’23 and Sawyer Gouldman ’23
Statement from the Department:
The eARTh project is a program proposed and supported by the Earth and Oceanographic Science Department. Our intent is to create opportunities for student-led projects that will showcase the work of their peers, in response to a theme. We are encouraging cross-disciplinary exhibitions and platforms and will invite the imagination of each leadership team to define their focus and production goals.
The Roux Center for the Environment is a welcoming building which invites student engagement and aesthetic response to its spaces and interdisciplinary mission. The arts propose yet another set of tools for science communication as well as a unique sphere for creative and critical response. Importantly, the arts support the integration of experience amidst the complexities in our rapidly changing world. Creative imagination may at some junctures inform creative solutions.
~ Bridget Spaeth , on behalf of EOS