Join the Fairfield University Art Museum on Thursday, January 21 at 6 p.m. for the opening night lecture of Birds of the Northeast: Gulls to Great Auks, presented by Dr. Brian Walker, professor of biology.
Birds of the Northeast: Gulls to Great Auks features paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings, photographs, and natural history specimens from the early 19th century through the present day. Curated by the museum's Frank and Clara Meditz Executive Director Carey Weber and Fairfield University biology professors Brian Walker, PhD, Jim Biardi, PhD, and Tod Osier, PhD, the show complements the installation on Fairfield’s campus of The Lost Bird Project by artist Todd McGrain. On view from October 2020 to June 2021, McGrain's five monumental sculptures were created as a public memorial to birds driven to extinction in modern times.
"I’m excited to again be participating as a co-curator for an exhibition with the Fairfield University Art Museum," said Dr. Walker. "It's amazing to work at an institution where the concept of interdiscipinary learning is so literally on display."
As leader of the online discussion on the 21st, Dr. Walker will endeavor to share a history of what birds mean to him, and explain how they have been fundamental to his career at Fairfield University.
"It is my hope to allow the listener to really understand the ubiquitous presence of birds in our lives, and, when you stop, look and listen, to really comprehend how the feathered species that we share our world with are paramount to a fully rich existence on our planet," Dr. Walker said. "Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I hope to remind people of the peril that many bird species are subject to, and the reality of how we must all work together to ensure their…and our own….survival."
