PEOPLE-NATURE-ART: BESTSELLING AUTHOR JENNIFER ACKERMAN

Description

Owls have fascinated, frightened, and inspired humans for thousands of years. One of the earliest known artistic depictions of an owl, circa 30,000 BCE, is from the Chauvet Cave in southern face France where it shares wall space with lions, woolly rhinoceros, horses, cave bears and mammoths. “From folklore to art, they’ve been revered and reviled, deemed sage and stupid, coupled with destructive witchcraft and with healing,” writes Jennifer Ackerman in her new book What An Owl Knows. “Sometimes they symbolize two opposing things at once. And sometimes they’re just … birds.” Ms. Ackerman, an award-winning science and nature writer, will be at the Wendell Gilley Museum on Tuesday, August 8, as the Museum’s People-Nature-Art presenter for August. There will be a reception and book signing at 5:30 p.m. followed at 7 p.m. by a presentation delving into the cultural impact of owls on humans and the ecological impact of humans on owls, along with fascinating facts and tales about these birds. The presentation begins at 7 p.m. in person at the museum, and will be simultaneously livestreamed. As always, People-Nature-Art presentations are free and open to all, but registration is required. When you register, please indicate whether you will attend in person, or livestreamed via Zoom. Ackerman’s new book, “What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds,” was released June 13 and was an instant bestseller. She is also the author of “The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think,” “The Genius of Birds,” “Birds by the Shore,” and “Chance in the House of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity.” People-Nature-Art is a monthly series that brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach nature. Each session for 2023 is sponsored by our friends at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. Reserve a space in person or online at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org/calendar.