Exhibits

At the Lloyd

May 8-August 27, 2010

Art Exhibit: "The Great Ohio Wilderness and Its Native People"
Mary Louise Holt will exhibit her original paintings depicting the wildlife, landscape, and indigenous people that once thrived on the Ohio lands before European settlement. The opening reception (May 8, 2010, 4-7 p.m. at the Lloyd) will feature a lecture by the artist. (Find out more about Mary Louise Holt and her artwork)

Book Exhibit: "Paradise Found: Discovery and Re-Discovery of the Natural American Landscape"
Features books by early explorers of America, especially those used by Holt in her research on Ohio before the Europeans, and a collection of materials on the Nature Study movement of the late 19th century. The opening reception (May 8, 2010, 4-7 p.m.) will feature a lecture by Miami University History Professor Kevin Armitage on "The Nature Study Movement: Its History and Why We Still Need It."

About the exhibits: An Overview
In the 17th and 18th centuries, European explorers were first discovering the wonders of the undeveloped wilderness of the American interior, including the Ohio River Valley. They encountered flora and fauna they had never seen before and learned more about these wonders from the native peoples already living there. It was a paradise, in many ways, to these explorers, and their writings on this wilderness landscape encouraged European encroachment and settlement of this "newfound" world. By the late 19th century, European civilization had all but destroyed this paradise. As a response to this destruction, the Nature Study movement was born in an effort to investigate and preserve what was left of the natural world. These exhibits are an opportunity to learn about this amazing period in American history, both from an artist who has worked to recreate this paradise on canvas and from the historic books that first described what was here before it was lost.

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