Wild Northwest Ohio—a multi-media exhibition in the Collab Lab at the Jerome Library—blends environmental awareness with art. Integrating three artists’ collections, the exhibit explores regional ecosystems’ beauty, complexity and fragility as well as the viewer’s relationship with nature.

Lee Fearnside uses photography to capture the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge as it exists: snowy marshes, trailhead markers and speckled greenery. Yet, elements of human influence are unmistakable.

“Every aspect of nature is impacted by human behavior,” Fearnside notes in her gallery caption. “We have shaped the landscape over centuries and millennia, destroyed and imported species. There is almost no place on earth that is truly ‘natural,’ including here in northwest Ohio.”

Kathy McGhee’s intricate prints and serigraphs focus on the colorful, chaotic details of blossoms, moss, lichen and other native plants.

“I look for the small moments that are often passed over. My works explore…self-realizations that may arise from its [the natural world’s] closer scrutiny and create a sense of introspection and self-discovery,” McGhee shares in her artist statement.

Barbara WF Miner, a mixed-media painter, zooms out to a more abstract approach. Bold, bright patterns illustrate her up-close, symbolic observations. 

“I have found a rich and infinitely complex biome on the land outside my door,” Miner wrote. “I use my photographs as touchstones for my artworks. Obliterating or revealing what is beneath, I build images with my stylized flora, like nature reclaiming a raised building site.”

Each unique style of environmental art encourages reflection on sustainability and conservation. The exhibit serves as an opportunity to educate viewers on native ecosystems, plants and wildlife.

Explore artists’ interpretations of this region’s natural beauty at the Wild Northwest Ohio exhibit in the first-floor Collab Lab at the Jerome Library:

https://events.bgsu.edu/event/wild-northwest-ohio-art-and-awareness-exhibit