The Danforth Museum of Art presents two exhibits:
The Last Glacier: Images of Our Changing Landscape and
Jonathan Marquis: The Glacier Drawing Project
Livingston, MT, August 25 – November 19, 2023
On August 25, the Danforth Museum of Art (DMA) opens two, concurrent artistic interpretations of disappearing glaciers: The Last Glacier: Images of Our Changing Landscape, and, Jonathan Marquis’ Glacier Drawing Project.
The Last Glacier: Images of Our Changing Landscape highlights a collaborative documentary project lead by visual artists Todd Anderson, Bruce Crownover and Ian van Coller. The exhibit includes 22 original artworks: color photographs of glaciers by Montana artist Ian van Coller; colorful Japanese style woodcut prints of glaciers by South Carolina artist Todd Anderson; and woodcut prints and watercolors by artist and master printer Bruce Crownover from Wisconsin.
An art and science initiative documenting the effects of climate change on glaciers throughout the world, The Last Glacier unites visual artists, scientists, and writers in conducting convergent research on specific wilderness environments experiencing tangible and dramatic ecological changes. Of the 150 glaciers the artists first documented in 2009, only 25 remain.
Jonathan Marquis’ Glacier Drawing Project adds another creative dimension to the photographs and prints of The Last Glacier. Marquis is on a mission to climb every mountain with remaining glacial activity and document it with graphite and color pencils. On site, he makes detailed sketches, takes notes, and augments with photographs. He then makes final drawings in the studio.
“Climate change is categorical, yet beauty,
however temporal still remains. As real time
passes, The Last Glacier transforms into
multi-generational artifacts that share stories
of mortality and resiliency in the face of a
changing planet.”
— IAN VAN COLLER, Professor of photography, Montana State University, Bozeman
The Last Glacier project brings attention to the plight of glaciers which, like the clean water they produce and the ecosystems they support, cannot be replaced. Using their creative processes, the artists effectively communicate climate change’s visual and emotional impact.
The Last Glacier travels under the auspices of MAGDA (Montana Art Gallery Directors Association), a statewide organization for non-profit museums and galleries, supported in part by grants from the Montana Arts Council; coal severance taxes paid based upon coal mined in Montana and deposited in Montana's Cultural and Aesthetic Projects Trust Fund; and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Danforth Museum of Art is located at 106 North Main Street, Livingston, Montana. www.thedanforth.org