Lubeznik Center aligns with Smithsonian for 'Earth From Space'

Despite technological advancements over the decades, the Smithsonian Institution's "Earth From Space" exhibit still leaves viewers in awe.

The satellite images of our planet that are part of the show were considered cutting edge in their day and crucial new tools for a myriad of science applications. Now, similar images can be seen by anyone with an Internet connection on websites such as Google Earth.

Yet Andrew K. Johnston, curator of "Earth" for the Smithsonian, says attendees continue to be amazed by the traveling exhibit.

"I thought people would get a little less interested in looking at these images, because they can get on their web browser and see them, but people are still interested in this stuff," he said. "The images in the exhibit don't look like the images they see on the servers, and they are still interested and have all sorts of questions."

Celebrating the opening of the exhibit at Michigan City's Lubeznik Center for the Arts with a reception on Jan. 14, the images that make up "Earth" were first seen by the public in book form in 2004.

The book is also titled "Earth From Space" was penned by Johnston, who is a geographer at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies. "Earth," the book, offers approximately 200 satellite images of Earth, which offered new perspectives beneficial in the fields of meteorology, topology and urban infrastructure.

Two years later, "Earth" became a traveling exhibit, created by Johnson in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Center for Earth and Planetary Studies at their National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C.

On exhibit are 41 (4-foot-by-7-foot) banners of the various satellite images, which both hone in on specific regions of the world and grand shots of the planet, and an electronic globe, which projects animated satellite imagery of the earth's atmosphere.

"I wanted to show people the diversity of different kinds of images we get from orbiting satellites," Johnston said. "We had satellites that looked at regional scales, so you could see changes over, say an entire U.S. state. And then there's another set of satellites that look at the whole hemisphere all at once, that look at weather patterns.

"I wanted to get the point across that there are different satellites that are designed and built for different goals, depending on what you want to look at."

CarolAnn Brown, Lubeznik Center curator of exhibitions, is enthusiastic about bringing the exhibit to the region and expects "Earth" to appeal to more than art aficionados.

"When I saw the images I thought they were stunning," she said. "From a weather aspect, from geology and ecology and urban aspects, I thought that this was pretty exiting stuff ... It encompasses a larger demographic that we normally wouldn't be able to reach out to. This is something that I think everyone can relate to and will be interested in. And it's factual. It's a direct representation of Earth from space."

The Smithsonian's "Earth" stop at Lubeznik Center is the final destination of its half decade–plus voyage, but it also marks a new territory for the traveling exhibit. "Earth," up until now, has been showcased in science museums. The Lubeznik stop, Johnston said, is its first in a museum with a primary focus on art.

"I hope that they're able to appreciate that some these images are just really darn beautiful, and that they're captivated by some of these images," he said. "Whether you're trying to predict where a tropical storm is going to go, whether you're trying to see how a metropolitan area has changed through time, or whether you're trying to see where new streets are being built in a town, there's all these very diverse views out there."

Brown likes the science surrounding the exhibit.

"For me, the attraction was the dynamic between art and science," she said. "The feeling that I had was being able to do something in this capacity that generally really wouldn't be at a gallery. And I know that a lot of folks in this area don't have the opportunity to experience something like this, and I was very exited about that aspect."

Lubeznik Center education coordinator Janet Bloch has a myriad of plans for students who view "Earth" on field trips and for participants in the center's after-school programs. While the exhibit provides plenty of source material, she also noted the topographical makeup in and around our backyard

"A lot of the things that we're going to see in those banners are different kinds of terrain that are from around the world, but that we also actually have in our own region, like sand dunes, bodies of water and wetlands," Bloch said. "We'll talk about those and how they relate to our region ... we, in fact have all the different types of terrain except for glaciers. This area's really rich for that."

Johnston has lent his voice to an audio tour created by Lubeznik Center as part of the exhibit. Additionally, copies of "Earth," the book, will be available in the Lubeznik Center gallery shop for purchase during the exhibit's run.

"Earth" will also be complemented by a lecture "Space From Earth" at 7 p.m. Feb. 23. The lecture, which will elaborate upon interpreting space images as seen from our planet, will be hosted by Shawn Slavin, associate professor of physics and astronomy at Purdue University Calumet.

Additionally, Bloch also has her sights set on programs and seminars geared toward older exhibit–goers during "Earth's" run.

"Going over longitude and latitude is helpful for adults as well as children," she said. "We haven't had this stuff for a while. It'll be a nice way to review things we first learned in the fourth grade. There's a lot of information (in "Earth") that we can take to all sorts of different places."