A Critical Balance: Workshops

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love,
We will love only what we understand,
And we will understand only what we are taught.”
– Senegalese environmentalist, Baba Dioum

Workshops that deepen our understanding of the birds of Amboseli and how they impact our own lives in Vermont. 

Introduction to Drawing Birds with Susan Sawyer | 12:30PM – 2:30PM

As familiar as the feathered dinosaurs are, they present some challenges to the artist—such as their strange skeletons and their ever-changing arrangements of limbs and feathers. This workshop (for all levels) will address some of the observational skills and anatomical knowledge needed to make a lively and accurate bird. All materials are provided but bring your own sketchbook if you have one. Materials for the workshop will be provided.

Enter the Garden of Silence—from Seeing to Writing | 12:30PM – 2:30PM

Summer in Vermont—a bucolic moment that invites you to slow down, experience the world with more awareness and appreciation. Sit and wonder, sketch with words or drawings, dream, imagine. Absorb the bounty of fragrances, sounds, colors, and textures that surround you— sensory nourishment to inspire your creativity. 

Georgia O’Keefe once said, “Nobody sees a flower, really—it is so small—we haven’t time, and to see takes time.” Using this quote as a jumping off point, this writing workshop aims to help you appreciate the beauty in the ordinary and the simplicity in the extraordinary. The art of seeing deeply requires attention, curiosity, openness, and connection. Taking the time to “see” will help restore you to wonder.

Format of the Workshop will include a writing prompt, time to experience quiet time in the gardens, time to write, and the opportunity to share our experiences. 

Please bring a notebook and a pen that you really love to write with!

Witnessed on the Wing – talks with Sean Beckett & Deb McKew | 3PM – 4PM

Sean Beckett
Though half a world away, Africa’s birds exhibit lives that are as familiar as they are spectacular. Love, loss, strife, beauty, tenderness, and bravery can be witnessed on the wing both above the Kenyan savanna and in the Vermont sugarbush. In this talk, we’ll learn about the natural history of the magnificent birds featured in the gallery, and some of the all-too-universal threats they face. 

Sean Beckett is the Program Director at North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier, where he leads birding and wildlife programs around the world, including in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.

Deb McKew
Communications and Publications Director for the Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) in Portland, Maine, Deb is also Editor-in-Chief of Big Dipper Books. She is collaborating with A Critical Balance to bring together research and conservation efforts of BRI at Amboseli National Park and the art being exhibited at HCA. Deb will talk briefly about the work BRI is doing to save these endangered birds, along with other threatened species in the Park. Her talk will include a slide show. 

Opening reception for A Critical Balance: The Endangered Birds of Amboseli | 4PM – 6PM

Over 20 birds have been painted in various mediums by six New England artists, life-sized, and accompanied by information about each bird and the conditions that threaten that species. The exhibit will include a brief talk by Susan Bull Riley, one of the featured artists, about her experience researching and painting birds that she isn’t able to experience and observe in person. There will also be an opportunity to view each painting through the lens of augmented reality, and watch the bird come to life.

Image: Hooded Vulture, Linda Mirabile