EXHIBITION WALKTHROUGH of
Seeing Climate Change?
at the Benton
The William Benton Museum of Art opens its newest exhibit on Thursday, January 16. Join Guest Curator Robert Thorson, Professor of Earth Sciences at UConn, for a guided walkthrough of the exhibit on Friday, February 16.
Technically, we can’t see climate change because climate is an abstraction, a categorical name for what we expect the weather to be. What we can see are natural phenomena related to climate such as tropical forests, desert dunes, and creeping ice sheets. This exhibition invites you to learn to see the effects of climate change in our daily lives by examining natural phenomena in works of art. How might the scene in a 19th century painting look different today, and how could the scene in a 20th century photograph look different in the future? Curated with Robert Thorson, Professor of Earth Sciences at UConn.
Exhibition highlights include Professor Thorson’s climate primer, which defines six key terms and explains their relationship to climate science through works of art; landscape paintings from 1850-1900, the interval used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as a baseline for measuring climate change between “then” and “now”; and a series of Connecticut landscape photographs by James Welling that encourage us to visualize the year 2100.
This exhibit will be on display from January 16 through July 18, 2024
Programs:
Opening Reception, Thursday, January 25, 4:30 - 6:30 PM
Exhibition Walkthrough with Guest Curator Robert Thorson, Friday, February 16, 12:30 PM
Salon - Building a Sustainable Future, Friday, March 1, 2024, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
245 Glenbrook Road, Storrs, CT 06269
860.486.4520
Open: Tuesday–Friday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM; Saturday & Sunday 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Note: Food, drink and large bags/backpacks are not allowed in the gallery.
A Coatroom is available for Coats and bags.
ADMISSION:
Admission to the galleries is free.
Donations are appreciated. Suggested donation $5 per person.