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PrintEverglades Forever
An ambitious project honors 10 diverse individuals for their heroic efforts to conserve this national treasure.
Photographer Clyde Butcher personifies dedication to Everglades conservation. Petrucci painted him emerging from the darkness, and as the powerful, but warm individual he is, barely suggesting the swamp surrounding him in order to focus on Clyde himself.
Paintings by Nicholas Petrucci
Just as man has had a big hand in damaging the Everglades over the years, so, too—thank goodness— have some very concerned and driven people stepped up to conserve and restore this valued eco-system. This month, Guardians of the Everglades, an innovative multimedia touring exhibition, documentary film, educational webinar, virtual museum tour and book, launches its effort to celebrate 10 of these heroes and dramatically convey the critical need for saving and promoting the sustainable use of the Everglades.
The exhibit, conceived by portrait artist Nicholas Petrucci, honors 10 living Guardians. Four of the paintings are presented here. I added my collection of endangered species photographs as an Impressionistic counterpoint to Petrucci’s powerful Renaissance-style portraits. Clyde Butcher’s black-and-white prints provide a strong sense of place. We’re aiming to deliver a tactile engagement with the fragility of endangered species and capture the emotional impact of the grand landscape.
THE GUARDIANS
Clyde Butcher, photographer of the Everglades
Franklin Adams, gladesman, conservationist
Chairman Buffalo Tiger of the Miccosukee
Nathaniel Reed, statesman
Deborah Jansen, Florida panther biologist
Bob Graham, senator, governor, statesman
Roy McBride and Chili, panther trackers
Dr. Hilary Swain, scientist, rancher
Joe Browder, conservation strategist
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
guardiansoftheeverglades.com or facebook.com/evergladesguardians
Gladesman, ardent conservationist, hunter, fisherman and wilderness guide Franklin Adams tirelessly works to protect the swamplands he respects and has called home most of his life. His style is quiet, unobtrusive and effective. His protective stance and demeanor offer a clue to what he believes in and protects.
Chairman Buffalo Tiger is a proud figure of strength and self-restraint in the Miccosukee nation. With the history of his tribe on his shoulders and his face redifining beauty, he still extends the peace pipe to all of us.
Wildlife biologist Deborah Jansen studies, tracks and monitors the endangered Florida panther, an "umbrella species" for the Everglades ecosystem. Her crystal eyes are as direct and blue as a panther kitten's and truly mesmerizing. She speaks for those who have no voice.
