Paint Rock: Drawing Knowledge from Nature with Guest Lecturer Bill Finch

Jax State to Host Paint Rock: Drawing Knowledge from Nature Exhibition and Lecture

Paint Rock: Drawing Knowledge from Nature will be on display in the Manners Gallery in Hammond Hall at Jacksonville State University (Jax State) from August 28 through September 25, with an opening reception on Thursday, August 28, from 5–7 p.m. featuring artist talks and refreshments. Before the reception, guest speaker Bill Finch, founding director of the Paint Rock Forest Research Center, will present from 4–5 p.m. in Howle Auditorium in Merrill Hall.

In Paint Rock, art intersects with nature, conservation, and scientific discovery. Eighteen Alabama artists offer their vision of the forested Paint Rock Valley – a place of extraordinary beauty, biodiversity, and significance for the future of North America’s forests, grasslands, and streams.

By drawing knowledge from nature, we emphasize the importance of developing a deep understanding of nature from multiple perspectives. In this spirit, each artist visited The Nature Conservancy’s Sharp-Bingham Mountain Preserve and engaged with the pioneering research supported by the Paint Rock Forest Research Center. Their works interpret those experiences through diverse artistic practices – inviting curiosity, ecological insight, and reflection. Artists became scientific explorers; scientists became artists.

Participating artists include Kendra Abbot, John Abbott, Patrice Andrson, Douglas Baulos, Elaine Booth, Shay Clanton, Doug Clark, Mary Dunn, Sarah Ellis, Beth Finch, Jamey Grimes, Leah Hamel, Bryce Lafferty, Allison McElroy, Celeste Amparo Pfau, Sakora Smeby, John Simmons, and Morgan Worsham.

The exhibition is supported by the Paint Rock Forest Research Center, the Department of Art + Design at Jax State, and the Alabama State Council on the Arts. For questions about the exhibition or the reception, please contact Bryce Lafferty at blafferty@jsu.edu or (256) 782-5634.

The opening reception is Thursday, August 28, from 5 to 7 PM at the Manners Gallery in Hammond Hall on the campus of Jax State. Come for gallery talks by the artists and refreshments.

Visit the Jax State Artblog to learn more about the intersection of Art, Science, and Conservation at Paint Rock.

Bill Finch is the founding director of the Paint Rock Forest Research Center and a passionate voice for nature and conservation in Alabama. His vision for Paint Rock, in part shaped by his friendship with E.O. Wilson, includes not just groundbreaking science but also perspectives of the humanities, inviting artists, writers, and thinkers into the heart of ecological inquiry.

An advocate and writer, Finch authored Longleaf: As Far as the Eye Can See, a collaboration with Photographer Beth Finch that captures the beauty and complexity of one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. Bill served as environmental reporter and editor for the Mobile Press, executive director of the Mobile Botanical Gardens, and Conservation Director for the Alabama Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Please join us for Finch’s dynamic presentation on the natural treasures we have in Alabama, their significance for North America, and the intersections of art, science, and conservation.

To learn more about the Paint Rock Forest Research Center and the groundbreaking science conducted there, visit paintrock.org.