Conservation Through Art: 50 Years of Wilderness in Alabama
The Conservation Through Art initiative promotes awareness and inspires protection of our public places through public art exhibits, art and creative writing workshops, hikes, creative projects, readings and public talks. The 2023-24 initiative Conservation Through Art: Saving Alabama's Hemlocks resonated across Alabama. Under the leadership of our former Executive Director Maggie Johnston, Wild Alabama applied for and received funding from the Alabama State Council on the Arts to move forward with the 2025 initiative celebrating the anniversary of the Eastern Wilderness Act in Alabama.
Conservation Through Art: 50 Years of Wilderness in Alabama runs April 01 - May 02 highlights the three wilderness areas in Alabama through an art exhibit, art and creative writing workshops, hikes in the Wilderness areas, and public talks. The exhibit and events in April will take place in and around the stunning Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College, in the Talladega Wilderness and Cheaha Wilderness, and at Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment in June 2025.
The Conservation Through Art initiative promotes awareness and inspires protection of our public places through public art exhibits, art and creative writing workshops, hikes, creative projects, readings and public talks. The 2023-24 initiative Conservation Through Art: Saving Alabama's Hemlocks resonated across Alabama. Under the leadership of our former Executive Director Maggie Johnston, Wild Alabama applied for and received funding from the Alabama State Council on the Arts to move forward with the 2025 initiative celebrating the anniversary of the Eastern Wilderness Act in Alabama.
Conservation Through Art: 50 Years of Wilderness in Alabama runs April 01 - May 02 highlights the three wilderness areas in Alabama through an art exhibit, art and creative writing workshops, hikes in the Wilderness areas, and public talks. The exhibit and events in April will take place in and around the stunning Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College, in the Talladega Wilderness and Cheaha Wilderness, and at Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment in June 2025.
Exhibit Statement
Each artist in this exhibit has a personal and profound relationship with the Wilderness areas in Alabama. Their paintings, photographs, book arts and writing are an expression of the inspiration by Alabama’s wildest places that has deeply influenced their work and their lives. The aim of this exhibit and its associated workshops, forest bathing walks, and Wilderness hikes is to bring awareness of the importance of the treasure of Wilderness for all living things, and to advance Wild Alabama’s mission to inspire people to enjoy, value, and protect the wild places of Alabama.
2025 Artists
Gary Anderson
Tony Barber
Janice Barrett
Elaine Booth
Timothy Joe
Bryce Lafferty
Allison McElroy
Yuri Ozaki
Charles Seifried
Jillian Sico
Starr Weems
Engagement
One of the fundamental goals of the Conservation Through Art initiative is public engagement to increase awareness and understanding of the value and importance of our three Wilderness Areas in Alabama - Cheaha Wilderness, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, and Sipsey Wilderness. Through learning about public Wilderness areas, people learn more about their communities and themselves.
Conservation Through Art at Talladega College
Talladega College, an HBCU, is the first private black liberal arts college in Alabama, founded in 1867. The campus is close to two of Alabama's Wilderness areas — Cheaha Wilderness and Dugger Mountain Wilderness in the Talladega National Forest. The CTA art show features the work of Alabama artists inspired by the Wilderness. The Conservation Through Art (CTA) exhibit opens to the public at the Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College on Tuesday April 01, 2025, with the Opening Events and Reception on Friday, April 04. Workshops that engage students, faculty, and alumni are planned throughout the month, both on the campus and in the Wilderness areas close by.
What is the Eastern Wilderness Act?
The Eastern Wilderness Act, passed in 1975, was a landmark law that expanded the National Wilderness Preservation System by designating wilderness areas in the eastern United States. Prior to its passage, the Wilderness Act of 1964 was interpreted to apply mainly to untouched, "pristine" landscapes, which left much of the East—where forests had been logged and regrown—excluded from protection. The Eastern Wilderness Act recognized that previously impacted lands could still regain their wilderness character over time and formally designated 16 wilderness areas in states east of the Mississippi, including parts of the Appalachian Mountains. This law set an important precedent for protecting and restoring wildlands in regions with a history of human use.
Talladega College, an HBCU, is the first private black liberal arts college in Alabama, founded in 1867. The campus is close to two of Alabama's Wilderness areas — Cheaha Wilderness and Dugger Mountain Wilderness in the Talladega National Forest. The CTA art show features the work of Alabama artists inspired by the Wilderness. The Conservation Through Art (CTA) exhibit opens to the public at the Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art at Talladega College on Tuesday April 01, 2025, with the Opening Events and Reception on Friday, April 04. Workshops that engage students, faculty, and alumni are planned throughout the month, both on the campus and in the Wilderness areas close by.
What is the Eastern Wilderness Act?
The Eastern Wilderness Act, passed in 1975, was a landmark law that expanded the National Wilderness Preservation System by designating wilderness areas in the eastern United States. Prior to its passage, the Wilderness Act of 1964 was interpreted to apply mainly to untouched, "pristine" landscapes, which left much of the East—where forests had been logged and regrown—excluded from protection. The Eastern Wilderness Act recognized that previously impacted lands could still regain their wilderness character over time and formally designated 16 wilderness areas in states east of the Mississippi, including parts of the Appalachian Mountains. This law set an important precedent for protecting and restoring wildlands in regions with a history of human use.
Conservation Through Art 2023-24
Saving Alabama's Hemlocks
The CTA exhibit moved to galleries across north Alabama including:
Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment in Huntsville - Fall 2023
Walker County Arts Alliance Gallery in Jasper - Spring 2024
Gadsden Museum of Art in Gadsden - Summer 2024
Little Old Rock Building in Double Springs - Fall 2024
Saving Alabama's Hemlocks
The CTA exhibit moved to galleries across north Alabama including:
Lowe Mill Arts and Entertainment in Huntsville - Fall 2023
Walker County Arts Alliance Gallery in Jasper - Spring 2024
Gadsden Museum of Art in Gadsden - Summer 2024
Little Old Rock Building in Double Springs - Fall 2024
|
|
|