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Kayak Scouting Mission on the Ochlockonee Water Trail
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The WFSU Ecology Blog

  • Home
    • About
    • EcoAdventures
      • Kayak and Canoe Adventures
      • Hiking
      • Wildlife Watching
    • Observations From the Field
      • White Pelicans Visit Dr. Charles L. Evans Pond in Tallahassee
      • An April Walk at Ochlockonee River WMA
      • Nesting Raptors at Honeymoon Island State Park
    • WFSU Public Media Home
  • Documentaries
    • In Their Words: Black Legacy Communities in North Florida
    • EcoCitizen Show | Seasons in South Tallahassee
    • Red Wolf Family Celebrates First Year at the Tallahassee Museum
    • Roaming the Red Hills
    • Oyster Doctors
    • Testing the Ecology of Fear
    • EcoShakespeare
    • Stories from the Apalachicola
    • Classic WFSU Ecology Documentaries
  • Habitats
    • Estuaries
      • Oyster Reef
        • The Effects of Predators and Fear on Oyster Reefs
        • Apalachicola Oyster Research
        • Animal Species in a North Florida Intertidal Oyster Reef
        • Oyster Reef Ecology | On the Reef
      • Salt Marsh
        • In the Grass- Salt Marsh Biodiversity Study
        • Plants and Animals of a North Florida Salt Marsh
        • Salt Marsh Ecology | In the Grass
      • Seagrass Bed
        • Predatory Snails, and Prey, of the Bay Mouth Bar Seagrass Beds
      • In the Grass, On the Reef Glossary
    • Waterways Big and Small
      • Aucilla/ Wacissa Watershed
      • Apalachicola Basin
        • Apalachicola Bluffs and Ravines | Virtual Field Trip
        • The Age of Nature Screening & Discussion | The Future of the Apalachicola
        • Apalachicola River and Bay
        • Apalachicola RiverTrek | Kayaking, Camping, & Hiking the River Basin
    • Longleaf Pine & Fire Ecology
  • Backyard Habitat
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    • Backyard Flora and Fauna
      • Bees of North Florida and South Georgia
      • The Seasonality of Bees (and Bee Plants) in North Florida
      • Woody Vines of North Florida
      • Flies of North Florida are More Diverse than You’d Think
      • The Case for Weeds, Our Unsung Florida Native Plants
      • Devil’s Walkingstick: Your New Favorite Thorny Pollinator Plant?
      • Florida Native Milkweed | Tips for Growing Your Monarch Friendly Garden
      • Mistletoe | A Parasite for the Holidays (But Maybe We Like it Anyway?)
    • Florida Friendly Seasonal Planting Guide
    • Pollinator and Gardening Posts
    • Gardening Web Resources
Ecology in Art & Literature

Thicker than Water: an Exhibit of Community Concern

by Rob Diaz de Villegas August 6, 2010
by Rob Diaz de Villegas August 6, 2010 0 comment

IGOR chip- human appreciation 150The show opening tonight at the LeMoyne Center for Visual Arts has a topic close to our hearts.  It’s called “Thicker than Water: an Exhibit of Community Concern,” and it features works by two artists concerned about human impact on Gulf ecosystems.  The proceeds from tonight will be split three was between the art center, Crude Awakening Tallahassee and the Florida Wild Mammal Association, and the Wild Mammal Association will have some statistics on the current crisis.  The artists are Patrick Lane and Allison Jackson.  Allison’s paintings are featured in the slideshow above.  One painting is titled St. Joseph Bay, which is of course where  we are following Dr. Randall Hughes and her biodiversity in salt marsh ecology study.  The first painting of the slideshow features something that’s been a common sight the last couple of months in the bay, horseshoe crabs coupling.

While we have so far been lucky in the bay with regards to oil, there is still a considerable amount of it in the Gulf, and a lot of that invisible dispersant.  The situation seems more optimistic, but history shows that it takes a bit of time to fully gauge the effects of such an event.  The works featured in this exhibit express the concerns of the artists about the Deepwater Horizon oil seep and about our relationship to nature in general.  The artists shared their thoughts with “In the Grass, On the Reef:”

Allison Jackson

“My work references traditional Florida landscape painting, which often depicts the ideal, in order to expose a situation that is becoming less than ideal. These paintings are an exploration of a fantastical, grotesque situation that could arise from the continued abuse of our environment. Within the beautiful Florida sunsets and dawns, I present to the viewer an ecology gone awry. The Florida that I show is at once familiar and disquieting, intending to incite within my audience both a sense of admiration for the beauty of the landscape, and a sense of apprehension at what the future may hold if we continue on our current path.”

Allison Jackson was born and raised in Tallahassee. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida State University in Spring of 2010. She works primarily in oil. Allison will be doing a one year internship with the Yale School of Drama beginning in Fall of 2010, painting sets for Yale Repertory Theater.

Patrick Lane

“Created in response to the oil disaster, my work addresses the many factors that have contributed to the current state of our delicate waters. Overpopulation, dependency on fossil fuels and their byproducts, neglect, greed, and hope are all prevalent themes in this series. Discarded plastics and other forgotten objects are telling signs of a throw away culture of convenience. My work comes from the realm of experimentation in order to unlock the infinite potential of any given material. In this case wax, wood, metal, and plastic are simply a cast of characters that reinforce the greater visual cluster. The resulting form of this clustering is the allusion of a crowd of fish or even a school of people.”

Patrick Lane recently received his BFA in Painting and Sculpture from Florida State University. He currently helps to foster creativity to local students serving as an instructor for LeMoyne Summer Art Camp. Next, Patrick plans to travel to New York in and effort to further his development as an artist.

Thicker than Water: an Exhibit of Community Concern runs from August 3 through August 17.

If you are an artist, writer, photographer, or musician whose work is inspired by the Florida Gulf Coast, especially the Forgotten Coast, we’d like to here from you.  Leave a comment below, or write robdv@wfsu.org.
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appreciationartcoastal ecologydeepwater horizon oil spillFSU Coastal and Marine Labgulf of mexicohorseshoe crabspaintingSt. Joe BaySt. Joseph Bay
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Rob Diaz de Villegas

Rob Diaz de Villegas is a senior producer for WFSU-TV, covering outdoors and ecology. After years of producing the music program OutLoud, Rob found himself in a salt marsh with a camera, and found a new professional calling as well. That project, the National Science Foundation funded "In the Grass, On the Reef," spawned the award winning WFSU Ecology Blog. Now he spends time exploring north Florida's forests, coasts, waterways, and the endlessly fascinating ecosystem that is the backyard garden. Rob is married with two young sons, who make a pretty fantastic adventure squad.

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