Come hear a team of artists and scientists present their work on two projects inspired by Wisconsin freshwater ecosystems:

 

"Voices of the Namekagon" is a web-based natural biography of the Namekagon River and its watershed, born of a unique partnership between artist Jojin VanWinkle and scientist Alison Mikulyuk. The project focuses on building relationships and engaging the public in the outdoors by exploring the Namekagon River as a figurative and literal thread connecting people to the land and to each other. They will show several film excerpts related to topics like eco-tourism, watershed management, and how people feel about the river. The biography uses multiple media, blending scientific and filmmaking practices to present film, audio, photography and scientific data. We hope that “Voices of the Namekagon” combines images, conversation, space, place, and ecology to present ever-expanding epistemology of one of Wisconsin's much-loved natural areas.

 

Similarly, storyteller Helen J. Bullard and ecologist Chelsey Blanke developed “Restless:”, a celebration of Lake Michigan’s cultural, ecological, and industrial histories. The project uses stories, video, still-imagery, animation, nature sounds, and music to reflect upon questions such as “What might it be like to be a lake?” and “What would a lake know?”. Excerpts shown will explore deep time, native American folklore, fisheries history, personal experiences, and other topics, with the aim of inspiring personal connections to and reflections about one of Wisconsin’s Great Lakes.