UNMC and the Healing Arts Program will host an artist’s talk, “Into Whooperland,” featuring noted nature photographer and conservationist Michael Forsberg, at 4 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center.
Forsberg will speak on the connectedness of people, the environment and the journey of the whooping cranes. Forsberg’s photographic expedition with whooping cranes follows their journey of conservation and strength. He has traveled roughly 50,000 miles on what he calls the “Whooper Highway,” an ancient north-south pathway from whooping crane wintering grounds on the Texas Gulf Coast through the Great Plains to summer nesting grounds in Canada’s Northwest Territories.
On that journey, he’s amassed more than 100,000 photographs, over 50 hours of film footage, a stack of 10 coffee-stained field journals filled with scribbles and words, and an endless collection of pictures and videos. This artist talk will feature photographs and digital content on display throughout the Davis Global Center – including the three-story-tall screen at the north of the atrium – from time-lapse photos in whooping crane habitats to AR film footage of their migration path.
“Forsberg’s work is a testament in pictures and words, as to the significance of the plight of the whopping crane,” said Healing Arts Program Curator Colleen Heavican Cass. “This exhibition invites us to reflect on our place in a deeply interconnected world.”
In his 30-year career, dedicated to wildlife and conservation stories in North America’s Great Plains, Forsberg’s images have been featured in publications that include Audubon, National Geographic, Nature Conservancy and Sierra magazines. His fine art prints are in public and private collections, and his solo exhibitions have traveled nationwide.
“Cranes are great connectors — they link habitats and people along their flyways and wherever they reside,” Forsberg said in his book, “Into Whooperland.” “The healthy wetland and grassland habitats essential for their survival are equally vital for our survival too.”
Seating for the event is limited, and registration now is open at this website.
Forsberg will speak at 4 p.m., followed by an art viewing, tours of the Davis Global Center and a reception.
The event is co-sponsored by Platte Basin Timelapse and the Claire M. Hubbard Foundation.