February – March 1992
This exhibition is designed to give prominence to significant issues and events concerning the relationship between humankind and our natural environment. The exhibition draws from a wealth of resources in the University Libraries covering the sciences, history, social sciences and policy studies, as well as the study of American culture, to create many frames through which to view the environment.
Divided into five sections, the exhibit represents many ecological issues and controversies. One section illustrates problems associated with urbanization and includes panels taken from Jorg Muller’s The Changing City, a series of paintings showing changes in a European town over twenty years’ time.
Another section of the exhibit focuses on deforestation as an example of a major global ecological threat. Yet another section highlights human-made catastrophes: the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, the effects of war on the environment, and the Exxon Valdez oil spill on Prince William Sound. A fourth section features selected satirical sketches from syndicated cartoonist Jay N. “Ding” Darling. The cartoons, which are taken from the Darling collections in the Special Collections Department of the University Libraries, allude to the efforts of Ding Darling and Ducks Unlimited to preserve wildlife habitats.
This exhibition was prepared by David Lepse, David Martin, Christine Tade, Melanie Wilson, and William Welburn.