Capital City Arts Initiative

Monday, April 22, 2013
Reading, 6:30 – 7:30pm
at the Carson City Library Auditorium
900 N Roop Street, Carson City

A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California
CCAI Books & Writers Series Presents Laura Cunningham

In honor of Earth Day, the Capital City Arts Initiative [CCAI] invites you to attend a presentation by writer Laura Cunningham at the Carson City Library, 900 N Roop St., Carson City, Nevada. On Monday, April 22, 6:30 – 7:30pm, Ms. Cunningham will read and show images from her book, “A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California”. The free event is part of CCAI’s Books & Writers series co-sponsored with the Carson City Library. The event will be of particular interest to landscape and wildlife painters. CCAI and the Library enthusiastically invite everyone to attend.

Ms. Cunningham is a highly experienced and multitalented biologist and artist. Trained in
paleontology at the University of California at Berkeley, and in natural science illustration at UC Santa Cruz, Cunningham has brought her skills to a diverse set of scientific projects. She has worked with the US Geological Survey Biological Resource Division analyzing amphibian declines in the Sierra Nevada and amassing species inventories in Death Valley National Park. She has helped with habitat restoration for a variety of native fishes, monitored Tule elk in the Owens Valley, and studied mountain lion predation with the California Department of Fish and Game. With California State University, Dominguez Hills, Cunningham worked in conservation biology and genetic studies involving Desert tortoises, Panamint alligator lizards, and Mojave fringe-toed lizards.

As a biologist, Laura Cunningham was inspired to write a book that would present the California landscape before European contact took place. She spent twenty years researching California’s environment including its grizzlies, condors, and grasslands. After completing many field sketches, she painted all the images for “A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California”. Ms. Cunningham lives and works in Beatty, Nevada.

Ms. Cunningham has been a scientific illustrator for the Museum of Paleontology at University of California, Berkeley, and illustrated fossil invertebrates for the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. She has also produced mural exhibits for various museums and institutions, including scenes of fossil mammals at Badlands National Park, and murals depicting the history of life on Earth for the California State University Fresno Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Her work has also been exhibited at numerous art shows and museums around the country, including the Pacific Rim Wildlife Art Show in Seattle, the Oakland Museum, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, and Carnegie Museum.

Following her talk, Ms. Cunningham will have copies of her book, “A State of Change: Forgotten
Landscapes of California” for sale. During her visit, she will also give her presentation to art and biology students at Dayton High School and at Douglas High School.

The Capital City Arts Initiative is an artist-centered organization committed to the encouragement and support of artists and the arts and culture of Carson City and the surrounding region. The Initiative is committed to community building for the area’s diverse adult and youth populations through art projects and exhibitions, live events, arts education programs, artist residencies, and online projects.

A Nevada Arts Council Artist Residency Express Grant partially funded this project. CCAI is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, City of Carson City, Nevada Arts Council, City of Carson City, Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, John and Grace Naumann Foundation, and the Carson Nugget.