Grimes farm photo exhibit

Exhibition: Fri Aug 22 – Sun Nov 2; Burling Gallery
Gallery Talk: Wed Oct 1; 4:15 p.m. Burling Gallery

"A Constructed Balance", an exhibit by photographer Emily Grimes, focuses on Central Iowa's delicate ecosystem. On display in Burling Gallery, Aug. 22-Nov. 1, the exhibit features landscape images of her family's Marshalltown area farm and nature preserve, through planting, growing, and harvest cycles.

"Constructing a balanced ecosystem that celebrates and protects the natural world is a task that will forever be a work in progress," Grimes said. "I have photographed the bountiful landscapes of one Iowa farm and watched thousands of individual seedlings become acres of forest with the explosion of plant growth after a controlled prairie burn."

The Grimes Farm, located four miles southwest of Marshalltown, Ia., is described as "part nature preserve, part farm, part education center, and part recreation area that combines a working agricultural operation with the natural environment to show how, through conservation, agriculture can work in harmony with various ecosystems."

Grimes' black-and-white and color photographs were most recently exhibited in solo shows at Images Gallery, Chicago, and at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge in central Iowa, and in a traveling group show sponsored by The Prairie Enthusiasts and the Wisconsin Humanities Council.

The College's Center for Prairie Studies will host a gallery talk by the photographer on Wed., Oct. 1, at 4:15 p.m. in Burling Gallery. Gallery hours for the "Constructed Balance" photo exhibit are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.