Florida Museum of Natural History, Harn Museum of Art host annual Earth Day celebration April 19

Published: April 16 2008

Category:Happenings

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Visitors to the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Harn Museum of Art will enjoy a day of fun for all ages while learning about the environment during the annual Earth Day celebration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on April 19. The event features live music, dance performances, games, eco-friendly art activities and community booths.

Florida Defenders of the Environment also will premiere its multi-media project “Natural Florida: In Word, Image and Deed,” which explores how artists, painters, photographers, musicians and writers have represented the natural wonders of Florida from the 16th century to the present. This is the largest compilation of art exploring natural Florida, and several local artists featured in the project will discuss their work at the museums. The artists include photographer John Moran, poet Lola Haskins, singer/songwriters Cathy DeWitt and Patchwork, singer/songwriter Dale Crider and author Cynthia Barnett, whose book “Mirage: Florida and the Vanishing Water of the Eastern U.S” won the 2007 Florida Gold Medal for Nonfiction.

Visitors will have the opportunity to transform recycled materials into sculpture at both museums, create rainforest trees and creatures at the Florida Museum of Natural History, and join award-winning artists Jennifer Duerden and Ryan Tanay in creating robot and bird sculptures at the Harn’s Family Day.

Other activities include a child-friendly presentation on energy conservation by Gainesville Regional Utilities and the exploration of nature trails at the Natural Area Teaching Laboratory, located adjacent to the museums.

For more information on the Earth Day event, visit the University of Florida Cultural Plaza Web site, http://www.culturalplaza.ufl.edu.

Credits

Writer
Jennifer Eastman and Jessica Thurmond
Contact
Paul Ramey , pramey@flmnh.ufl.edu, 352-273-2054
Contact
Tami Wroath, twroath@harn.ufl.edu, 352-392-9826

Category:Happenings