AMES, IOWA.- The Brunnier Art Museum, University Museums affiliate at Iowa State University (ISU), located on the second floor of the Scheman Building, 1805 Center Drive, Ames, IA, is hosting the exhibition Future Unfolding featuring the newly commissioned cameo engraved glass work of art added to the permanent collection, Outliving Glaciers, by internationally-known and award-winning artist and environmentalist April Surgent.

Cameo engraving is an ancient technique few contemporary glassmakers choose to attempt. It is a slow and meticulous process that entails precise work to carve through layers of various colors of glass to create low relief images. As a young artist in the early 2000s, Surgent first encountered engraving under the tutelage of the Czech master engraver Jiří Harcuba, which led to her focus on the use of cameo engraving as way to depict landscapes and environments in glass.

While nature is her source of inspiration, Surgent draws on her experiences with several science-funded research grants to inform how she chooses to represent the natural environment. Surgent was a recipient of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Writers and Artists Program in 2013, was the first artist in residence with the NOAA’s Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program, and assisted with a 2019 U.S. Geological Survey led research study in Alaska. These research trips have yielded a range of imagery that she later records via glass when she returns to her studio. Surgent uses her engravings to document the world as it is in this moment, as the loss of natural habitats and environmental impacts due to climate change escalates.

“Through the amalgamation of art and science, I seek to understand how we are affecting the environment to learn what we can do to create positive impact,” says Surgent. “Observation, conservation science, and in-depth research inform my work discussing the urgency of climate change and the call to action.”

Along with the cameo engraved glass, Future Unfolding includes two art installations created from human-made debris collected out of the ocean. “The art presents the perfect opportunity to direct further discussions on how glacial and sea changes continue to have a dramatic impact on Iowa,” said Adrienne Gennett, curator of the Brunnier Art Museum. “Through examining Surgent’s art, the conversation must be had that we, and especially future generations, are and will be impacted by the devastating loss and accelerated environmental change occurring around the world.”

As a way to facilitate these discussions, University Museums will host free programs for the public to join. April Surgent will be on-site at the Brunnier Art Museum Thursday, October 12 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. for an artist lecture Exploring Climate Change in Glass where she will discuss her inspiration and expression of environmental change through cameo engraved glass. She will also talk about her experience participating in scientific research fellowships. On Sunday, November 5 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m., ISU Professor of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences Dr. Neal Iverson will present Glaciers in a Warming World: Examples from Today and Iowa’s Glacial Past. Dr. Iverson will lecture on how glaciers and ice sheets respond to climate warming in ways that are both predictable and surprising, and how their shrinkage over the next century will affect hundreds of millions of people.

While on campus at ISU in October, Surgent will give specialized tours to philosophy, meteorology, geology, and agriculture classes. When University Museums has the opportunity to host artists on campus, there is always a focus on engaging with curriculum being taught throughout the colleges. Education staff work to bring students and faculty together with the artists, who give great insight on how their art can connect deeply to their fields of study through visual literacy learning.

This exhibition is curated and organized by the artist, April Surgent, and University Museums with Traver Gallery. Generous support for the exhibition was given by Marcia and Jim Borel; Carol Gee; Lucinda and Dirk Scholten; Phyllis and Larry Lepke; and University Museums Membership.

Brunnier Art Museum
Future Unfolding
August 22nd, 2023 - December 17th, 2023