What's new at the Mu? Ansel Adams, Nell Dorr environmental photos on display

The Massillon Museum’s new Photography Gallery exhibition, “Precarious Legacies: Exposures of a Fleeting Landscape,” features fine art photography from the museum’s permanent collection focusing on environmental preservation through images by Ansel Adams and Nell Dorr. The exhibition showcases the beauty of the natural landscape while provoking conversation about climate change and actions needed to save the earth.

Highlights

Both photographers have a distinct artistic eye for the natural landscape and society’s role in preserving it. Although these two artists have passed, their photographs still showcase the natural beauty around us. Some of the landscapes in the photographs have changed, but the photographers’ voices can still make an impact.

Californian Ansel Adams (1902–1984) was a vocal activist in the environmental movement. His photo work reveals stunning images of national parks, forests, rivers, and valleys. These geographies have transformed; the displayed images serve as historical objects.

Nell Dorr (1893–1988) was raised in Massillon. While not as publicly outspoken as Adams about her feelings on environmental change, documented interviews touch on the importance of cautious human interaction with nature. Photographs from two of her books, “In a Blue Moon and Mangroves,” remind viewers: as the landscape ages, so do we, humans and nature, deserve the same respect.

“By collaborating with others passionate about environmental conservation, we can amplify our impact and make a real difference,” says exhibition curator Anna Young. Young, MassMu administrative assistant and social media manager, holds an MFA in photography from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from the University of Akron. She is co-founder of KINK Contemporary, a Cleveland exhibition space.

Why attend?

When visiting the Studio M exhibition, guests can also view John W. Carlson: “Set the Twilight Reeling, A Way to Win: Paul Brown’s Innovations,” the Paul Brown/Massillon Tigers Football History Timeline, the Immel Circus, the Local History Gallery, “Innovators of Massillon, First Peoples of North America, Ethiopian Expedition of 1903,” the Albert E. Hise Fine and Decorative Arts Gallery, and Ish Ishmael: “Manifestations of the Dystopian Reverie.”

Details

WHAT – New MassMu Exhibition, “Precarious Legacies: Exposures of a Fleeting Landscape”

WHEN – Through July 2024

WHERE – Massillon Museum, 121 Lincoln Way East, downtown Massillon

MORE – MassillonMuseum.org or 330-833-4061

This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: What's new at the Mu? Ansel Adams, Nell Dorr environmental photos on display