WEST ALTON - The Audubon Center at Riverlands will combine choreography, textile and sculpture work in a new exhibit titled “Identity Migration.”
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Carmen Alana Tibbets is this year’s artist-in-residence at the Audubon Center, and she has created several cloth sculptures of migratory birds. Erin Lane, a dance professor at Principia College, then worked with her students to develop choreography corresponding to each sculpture. The resulting exhibit will be open to the public from 5–7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at the Audubon Center in West Alton, Missouri.
“We’ve been incorporating art into our mission since the center opened in 2011,” explained Ken Buchholz, director of the Audubon Center. “How can we get people to think and be inspired, and not only that, but even generate their own thoughts and ideas? Hopefully it creates a sense of urgency to help protect what we know we’re losing quickly. When you love something, you take care of it.”
The exhibit includes a walk through the gallery, several dance performances and conversation with Tibbets, Lane and the dancers. Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased online.
Penny Schmidt, developer and community volunteer with the Audubon Center, helped organize the art installation. She noted that the collaboration between Tibbets and Lane makes for a “really unique” exhibit, with the dances responding to the sculptures. She hopes the exhibit encourages audience members to visit the Audubon Center and think about conservation.
“It’s part of the creative experience, being in nature, but it’s also unique for conservation,” Schmidt said. “That’s one of the things that we’re trying to get across to people, that this is a space for everyone, and we’re creating experiences that are really unique.”
As an artist, Tibbets said she is excited to see Lane’s dances based around her work. Tibbets has a PhD in field biology, and she made sure her sculptures are accurate and intricately detailed. The sculptures are based on birds that migrate through Southern Illinois around this time of year, and each bird is wearing an embroidered outfit made of recycled materials. The embroidery either reflects each bird’s plumage or their diet.
The sculptures are made out of cloth and steel, and Tibbets joked they are “kind of like a terminator.” Each bird sculpture is carrying luggage. Tibbets said it’s up to the audience to interpret what the sculptures and their details mean, but the overarching theme is migration.
“I want people to have their own interpretation and, at some level, to identify with these hybrid figures,” she said. “People come at it from wherever it is that they are. What it is that I’m thinking or you’re thinking, they're not going to care about that at all. But that’s okay. The point is to just get people to look at something different and make some connection.”
This was also Lane’s goal as she worked with her students to choreograph dances that represent each sculpture. The students talked about what the sculptures elicited from them, then came up with choreography that fit the birds.
Lane noted that themes of identity and change came up often in the class discussions and her conversations with Schmidt and Tibbets. The resulting pieces will include a tap dancer accompanied by an electric bassist, three dancers with a violinist, and two dancers who will dance in silence.
Schmidt, Tibbets and Lane hope that the uniqueness of the exhibit will inspire people to care about conservation. They believe that by having these pieces out at the Audubon Center, they will encourage people to think differently about preserving nature and protecting the environment.
“I think it’s really important actually to use all forms of art for conservation,” Lane added. “We’re trying to inspire action. If people have some experience with conservation and nature and art, they’re going to absolutely remember that moment they saw that really weird dance with the birds. They’re going to remember, and they’re going to have a real soft place in their heart for that, and they’re going to make different choices as they move on in life about how they treat nature, potentially.”
“Identity Migration” is open to ticket holders on Oct. 26, 2024. For more information, click here.
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