“In a Time of Change: Envisioning the Future”

September 2010 exhibit at the Bear Gallery, Fairbanks, AK
Curator, Karin Franzen

Poster Art Thin Ice by Fred Freer

“In a Time of Change” is a collaboration of visual and performing artists, writers, and scientists working together to integrate scientific and artistic perspectives on climate change in interior Alaska. For the 2010 event, “Envisioning the Future”, artists joined sceintists for field workshops at the UAF Bonanza Creek (BNZ) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) stations. The scientists shared information about ecological processes, long term trends, and potential environmental impacts. Informed by a broader understanding of ecology, artists were asked to share their vision of a future Alaska, which culminated in an art exhibit featuring 24 Alaskan visual artists and public performances featuring original theater, dance, readings and music.

Photo by James Barker

Photo by James Barker

Photo by James Barker

Photo by James Barker

Photo by James Barker

At left are five photos of the 2010 gallery exhibit.

Sponsors for the 2010 event:
National Science Foundation
UAF BNZ LTER
UAF Collaborative Council
US Forest Service
UAF Inst. of Arctic Biology
Fairbanks Arts Assoc.

History: 2007 to 2009
A detailed description and photos of the In a Time of Change program can be viewed on the LTER website. The website includes photos and descriptions from the 2010 workshops, but has not been updated to include the gallery exhibit or stage performance.

The program was born in September of 2007 when Bonanza Creek LTER hosted its first field workshop for writers, musicians, dancers, visual artists and scientists The group of writers, artists and BNZ scientists visited Caribou Poker Creek Research Watershed (CPCRW), within BNZ LTER, to observe forest burned from a recent year of severe wildfires, melting permafrost and the plants inhabiting the site. This workshop culminated in a public performance in March of 2008 entitled In a Time of Change, which focused on climate change and wildfire in interior Alaska.

The second BNZ LTER artist-scientist field trip (August, 2008) took participants on a boat trip down the Tanana River to explore the floodplain ecosystem. In 2009, a middle school course, entitled Climate Change and Creative Expression, was offered for early college credit at a local Alaska native charter school, which combined field and classroom science with creative writing and dance training, and culminated in a multi-media performance and book of poetry developed and performed by students for the public, entitled The Earth is Changing, Whatcha Gonna Do?