Why Do We Burn the Prairie?

Learn more about native plant restoration and how to deepen our connection to the land

a woman in safety gear conducing a controlled burn of a prairie
Sheena Parsons, manager of the University of Kansas Field Station, participates in a controlled burn.

Join us for a walk and talk at the KU Field Station’s Suzanne Ecke McColl Nature Reserve with Sheena Parsons, Station Manager of the KU Field Station and Associate Researcher, Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research, to discuss how fire is important to maintaining our native ecosystems. We’ll walk through here-ing by Janine Antoni and learn how this artwork, which takes the shape of an inner ear as a path in the landscape that visitors will walk along, took shape and became part of the larger efforts to restore native plant and animal communities.

Inspired by the connections to works in Actions for the Earth: Art, Care, & Ecology, we’ll consider how deep listening, a process described by artist Pauline Oliveros, can facilitate a deeper connection between ourselves and the land.

Note: Wear weather appropriate clothing and bring water. This event is primarily walking outdoors.

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Actions for the Earth: Art, Care, & Ecology will be on view in the Nerman Museum’s Oppenheimer, Thompson and Anonymous Galleries, First Floor, August 9-December 8, 2024.