Unseen art exhibition returns to Fallbrook Library

FALLBROOK – “Mother Earth: Fragile Planet,” beginning March 7, is proudly hosted by the Friends of the Fallbrook Library and expresses hope and compassion for this planet despite the fear of climate change. This is the art show that was hung the day before the pandemic closed the library for almost two years. The 2020 unviewed and now expanded show can now be seen.

This show is a tribute to Larry Miller, who curated the original exhibition with Kira Carrillo Corser. Miller was the Friends of the Fallbrook Library fine art director from 2011 to 2015, staying with the team after his tenure to help with future shows. He was a respected educator and scientist living in Fallbrook.

Carrillo Corser, director of Compassionate Arts, Inc., now brings this exhibition back to the library. This exhibition is the first of a two-year plan by Compassionate Arts to include artists and educators in climate conversations to build resilience, compassion and knowledge.

“Mother Earth: Fragile Planet” in the Community Room, was prompted by the 52nd anniversary of Earth Day, April 22 and Arbor Day, April 29.

The 17 artists in this show, Grace Gray Adams, Carrillo Corser, Dr. Tim Leuker, Tara King-Haagen, Ivan Perez Tejeda, Sergio Sanchez Moreno, Heather Hilliard-Bonds, Alex Saltzman, Katy Parks-Wilson, Dr. Jennifer Colby, Aldonia R. Bailey, Hajime Ohno, Susan J. Osborne, Mike Reardon, Barbara Rabkin, Leslie Sweetland and Jill Bernett, have chosen to express their climate concerns in their paintings, sculpture and words.

For example, Heather Hilliard–Bonds wrote, “Creating an environment through planting and gardening creates a home and safe haven for the animals around us” and illustrates this in her painting “You Are My Sunshine.” The title of a diptych “Solastalgia” by Katy Parks-Wilson describes a form of emotional or existential distress caused by environmental change; the feeling of longing, rage, anxiety, melancholy triggered by the loss of nature.

Leslie Sweetland’s paintings show the effects of “Before Man: After Man” in “Lupine Meadow” a place of serenity when she first painted it, which had become an industrial park later which she documents in “Progress?”

The exhibit is free and open to everyone. The show runs through April 29. The library is located at 124 S. Mission and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

Submitted by Friends of the Fallbrook Library.