OXFORD, Miss. – Renowned wildlife photographer Stephen Kirkpatrick focuses on the rare and threatened natural treasures of the Mississippi Coastal Plain in “Sanctuary: The Exhibition,” on display March 20-June 9 at the University of Mississippi Museum.
The opening reception for “Sanctuary: The Exhibition” will be held during the Oxford Art Crawl, 7-9 p.m. March 27 at the museum.
The collection includes 35 stunning wildlife and nature photos presented on canvas, all shot in southern Mississippi and in the Gulf of Mexico. Featured subjects include everything from majestic white-tail deer to curious barracuda, colorful least bitterns to gopher tortoises, and playful dolphins to translucent jellyfish.
“Before people can be convinced that preserving natural places is a worthy cause, they have to truly see what they’re being asked to care about,” Kirkpatrick said. “‘Sanctuary: The Exhibition’ is my effort to present this unique part of the natural world to people who might otherwise overlook it. Through this exhibition, I hope I can pass some of the wonder nature inspires in me on to others.”
Extending from the Pascagoula watershed in southeast Mississippi west toward the Pearl River and south into the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi Coastal Plain is a collection of diverse environments and habitats, home to rare animal and plant life. This unique area is also home to three items of national ecological concern: the Pascagoula watershed, the longleaf pine and the Gulf of Mexico.
In photographs and brief yet well-researched text, “Sanctuary: The Exhibition” reveals the fragile beauty and ecological importance of these areas, explaining why it is so important to preserve the rare, threatened, and endangered species that call these places home.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the museum will offer several activities for patrons of all ages, including a Brown Bag lecture and gallery walk on April 10, a half-day photography workshop April 14 and a special program for children and families on April 21.
“Sanctuary: The Exhibition” is sponsored in part by Muddy Water Camo. The exhibition is based on Kirkpatrick’s coffee-table pictorial book, “Sanctuary: Mississippi’s Coastal Plain,” which is the first-place winner in the nonfiction category of the 2011 International Self-Published Book Awards sponsored by Writer’s Digest magazine.
Kirkpatrick has published more than 10 coffee-table books, and his work has earned international acclaim, including the National Outdoor Book Award, the Benjamin Franklin Award and three Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Book of the Year Awards. He has twice been named a winner in the prestigious International Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition in London.
His current project is “On a Roll,” an entire coffee-table book shot on just three rolls of film. Kirkpatrick lives in Madison with his wife, author Marlo Carter Kirkpatrick.
The University Museum is at the intersection of University Avenue and Fifth Street. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, and admission is free. For more information, click here or call 662- 915-7073.