On View: September 6-September 28, 2024

First Friday Opening Reception:

Friday, September 6, 5–7 p.m.

(Gallery opens at noon on First Fridays)

The Bear Gallery is located on the third floor of the Alaska Centennial Center for the Arts building in Pioneer Park, 2300 Airport Way, Fairbanks, Alaska.

Step into a captivating exploration of the boreal forest as the Fairbanks Arts Association proudly hosts the In a Time of Change (ITOC), Boreal Echoes exhibit at the Bear Gallery, showcasing a stunning fusion of art, science, and environmental insight.

In a Time of Change (ITOC) Program

Founded in 2007 by the Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) in Fairbanks, Alaska, the In a Time of Change (ITOC) program facilitates and produces collaborative arts-humanities-science exhibits and events focused on ecological themes important to Alaska. ITOC recognizes that cross-disciplinary interactions between artists, humanities scholars, and scientists can foster community engagement with the natural world and build collaborative capacity, helping society to address complex environmental problems. ITOC emerged within the Bonanza Creek LTER program in Interior Alaska and is funded by the National Science Foundation, the USDA Forest Service, and private contributors, with in-kind support from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks Arts Association, and other partners. UAF professor Mary Beth Leigh directs ITOC in collaboration with ITOC researcher and evaluator Lissy Goralnik (Michigan State University). ITOC is part of a growing network of place-based, environmental arts-humanities-science programs across the U.S. and around the world. 

Boreal Echoes Exhibit

Boreal Echoes is a new exhibit produced by the Alaska-based collaborative environmental arts-humanities-science program known as In a Time of Change (ITOC). Boreal Echoes is the result of three years of learning, conversation, and experimentation by a cohort of artists who were inspired and informed by the boreal forest, the scientists who study it, and each other. Artists first built relationships to the boreal biome and one another through outdoor field trips, scientific presentations, and artist craft talks as participants in the previous ITOC project, Boreal Forest Stories, which premiered in the Bear Gallery in September 2022. Thirteen artists chose to deepen their explorations and spark new collaborations through monthly group activities and the creation of a new exhibit sharing their collaborative and individual investigations, inspirations, and care about the boreal biome. Boreal Echoes is directed by Mary Beth Leigh and curated by Teresa Shannon and Alyssa Enriquez, and includes artwork by Susan Campbell, Alyssa Enriquez, Nancy Hausle-Johnson, Mary Bee Kaufman, Margo Klass, Jennifer Moss, Ree Nancarrow, Oralee Nudson, Teresa Shannon, Todd Sherman, Marianne Stolz, Connie Stricks, and Sara Tabbert.

THESE EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC THANKS TO OUR GENEROUS DONORS AND SPONSORS.