Conservation in Clay: natural history and modern threats to New York’s native amphibians and reptiles

Community members are invited to a free art and science exhibition at Launder's Science Library on the St. Lawrence campus. Enjoy ceramic sculptures featuring some of New York State’s most exciting amphibians and reptiles. Hidden inside each work is a smaller sculpture that tells the story of the animal’s ecology or causes of population declines for a truly educational exhibition.

The family-friendly show opens April 4th with a reception with refreshments at 5:00 pm. Students will give short presentations at 6:00 pm sharing the inspirations and ecology behind their artwork. Pieces will remain on display until May 5th.

The works were created through interdisciplinary collaboration between two spring courses - Ceramics I and Herpetology (the study of amphibians and reptiles).  Students worked together to research the biology of native amphibians and reptiles in New York State and then to create sculptures based on photographs and museum specimens. They hollowed out the pieces to make containers to hide their smaller pieces. Students chose to focus on turtles, salamanders, frogs, and snakes and to demonstrate behaviors such as migration, diet, man-made threats, egg laying, relationships to other species, and chorusing. The final pieces were fired and cold surface treated.

This project is a collaboration between Visiting Professor of Ceramics Rachael Marne Jones' and Visiting Professor of Biology Kristine Hoffmann.