NICHES 20th Anniversary Exhibit

 The current exhibit at the Carnegie Center is the NICHES 20th Anniversary Exhibit. NICHES is a non-profit organization that owns and manages a number of nature preserves in Northern Indiana; the name is an acronym for Northern Indiana Citizens Helping Ecosystems Survive. The exhibit has been traveling through area counties. The Carnegie Center is its last stop and members of the local art community have supplemented the exhibit with various art works that they have done.

I was especially interested in their poster showing what is and has been happening near the Fisher Oak Savanna on the southern edge of Jasper County. The Gish Wildlife Preserve is a recent gift. The Expansion has not officially happened yet--the closing will be in December. I thought they might have landlocked a property but was told that the two houses there have an access route between the red and yellow lines. There is a small notch on the east side of the Fisher Oak Savanna, and that is the property with an old house, visited here. It has been remodeled since that visit.

The poster has information on how the site would be restored.

Most of the items in the exhibit from NICHES are photographs. Below a family is wading in another property NICHES has in Jasper County, the ten-acre Shepard Swamp near Baileys Corner.

I tried to take pictures that would minimize reflection, but I could not avoid all of it. You can see pictures reflected from the opposite wall in this photograph of sandhill cranes.

Below are a few items from locals artists. The first is a watercolor of the view of Fisher Oak Savanna from its parking lot.

I find this fiber art fascinating.

The picture below is painted with acrylics and is titled "Fisher Oaks."

The entrance to the Carnegies Center has a Christmassy feel to it.  (I had to check to see if Christmassy is really a word. It apparently is.)

The NICHES exhibit will be on display until December 31.