Fairhope Event—Gary Mullen presents Philip Henry Gosse: A Naturalist’s Sojourn in Alabama

Lecture, Exhibition, & Reception are Free and Open to the Public. Registration is requested for planning purposes by Wednesday, October 12th at 12 p.m. CDT.

Registration is now closed.

Didn’t get to register? No problem. Still come and feel free to bring someone with you. This event is open to all.

Check out our upcoming events here.

“A NATURALIST’S SOJOURN IN ALABAMA”

The Eastern Shore Art Center in conjunction with Alabama Audubon invites you to celebrate the work of English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse (1810-1888). Dr. Gary Mullen, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University, will be presentating on Gosse’s life followed by a reception and exhibition of reproduced prints of Gosse’s artwork.

Gosse came to Dallas County as a teacher and spent eight months recording his observations of the rich biodiversity of Alabama. His descriptions of plant and animal life, plantation life, and everyday life in those early days of Alabama statehood were published as a series of articles and later in book form as Letters from Alabama (1859) after his return to England. While in Alabama, Gosse produced a collection of forty-nine beautifully detailed sketches and watercolors which were not widely available until 2010 with the publication of Gosse: Science and Art in Letters from Alabama and Entomologia Alabamensis.

Details: The presentation by Dr. Gary Mullen will take place at 4 p.m. at Eastern Shore Art Center (401 Oak Street Fairhope AL 36532). The reception and viewing of the exhibition will follow. Free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on display through October 29. For more information, visit esartcenter.org/exhibits/current-upcoming-past.

About Eastern Shore Art Center: The Eastern Shore Art Association was founded in 1954 by a group of local artists and art patrons who recognized the importance of art to a meaningful and full community life. Construction began that same year on a one room gallery on the site of the former Pinewood Pottery Studio that had operated in Fairhope for over twenty years making functional ceramics from local clay. The Art Center (first dedicated in 1965) has continued to grow in that same location over the past 50 years to a facility that houses five exhibit galleries and four teaching studios. ESAC now includes among its activities monthly exhibits; quarterly classes for adults and children; an annual outdoor show; monthly Art Walks; outreach programs for assisted living residents and children and adults with disabilities and chronic illnesses; and extensive programs for both public art and arts education in local schools.