MOUNT OLIVE | The University of Mount Olive will hold a lecture by Joseph Covington on Birds on the Bayous: John James Audubon in Louisiana. The lecture will take place on Tuesday, February 10, at 7 p.m. in the Southern Bank Auditorium.
John James Audubon was not the first person to attempt to paint and describe all the birds of America (Alexander Wilson has that distinction), but for half a century he was the young country’s dominant wildlife artist. His seminal Birds of America, a collection of 435 life-size prints, quickly eclipsed Wilson’s work and is still a standard against which 20th and 21st century bird artists. Audubon’s story is one of triumph over adversity; his accomplishment is destined for the ages. He encapsulates the spirit of young America, when the wilderness was limitless and beguiling. He was a person of legendary strength and endurance as well as a keen observer of birds and nature. The resourceful artist, who worked in remote locations, shot nearly every bird he painted and often consumed his subjects.
This lecture is part of the North Carolina Museum of Art’s college outreach project with the University of Mount Olive. Admission to the event is free. For more information about the lecture, please contact Larry Lean at llean@umo.edu. For more information about John James Audubon, please visit http://www.audubon.org/john-james-audubon.
The University of Mount Olive is a private institution rooted in the liberal arts tradition with defining Christian values. The University, sponsored by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists, has locations in Mount Olive, New Bern, Wilmington, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, Research Triangle Park, Washington, Jacksonville, and in Smithfield at Johnston Community College. For more information, visit www.umo.edu.