CBMM opens 'Changing Chesapeake' exhibit

With over 50 pieces of original art ranging from black and white photography to sculpture to multimedia video installations, this show challenged viewers to think and feel about how the Bay is changing.

There was emphasis on species in transition like ghost forests dying from sea level rise or invasive species like phragmites (a weed) that are pushing habitats out of balance.

There was also art that took a more historic look at the Bay like The Generous Jenny. This piece was inspired by the unnamed 260 slaves aboard the boat in 1720. There were shells and sea glass from the same Patuxent River commemorating each slave. Each token was hanging gracefully from string to represent the 29 slaves who were thrown overboard for having smallpox. They were represented by shells.

Laura Guertin of Media, Pennsylvania teaches oceanography and geology at the college level. Her quilted and crocheted ghost forest piece engaged the viewers with an innocent looking quilt that packs a punch on closer inspection.

“I started quilting in 2018. I started doing science themed pieces — to try and make science more accessible to a broader audience. We are seeing these trees that have been damaged by coastal subsidence and sea level rise where the salt water is coming in, but the trees need fresh water to survive. So all we see is the wood that is left. There is no evidence of life on them. So we are looking out the window of the ‘Ghosts of the Coast’ I call it. This is not permanent. All of us can take actions whether we are a scientist or a non scientist to make the change we want to see to have a sustainable environment for future generations. Everyone needs to be at the table having these conversations to move these actions forward.”

Pete Lesher, chief historian at CBMM, took a broad view of the show’s content.

“There are elements of longing or nostalgia for what has changed since the artist’s childhood,” Lesher said. “There are hopes expressed for the future of the Chesapeake. Some optimistic, some less so, but it covers that variety of human reactions. You get a sense that usually we think the span of a human lifetime there is a permanence of place and yet we know the Chesapeake Bay in geological terms is young. It’s is 10,000 years old. You get the sense that not only are we ephemeral, but also the place that we are living in. Live in and love.”

Steffi Chupein of Baltimore created a multimedia collage piece that had multicolored fish from the Chesapeake. It has a childlike playfulness that reminds one of author and artist Eric Carle. She makes all the paper herself before applying it into the scene.

“I have always been interested in the Chesapeake. When Michener’s book came out, it is the only book that I have read twice. I am a master gardener and we did Bay Wise, which is a way of gardening to be safe for the Bay. These are all silhouettes of fish that are in the Chesapeake. Climate is changing everything, even plants that used to be in zone 8 are moving up to zone 7. We are in the middle of it,” said Chupein.

In her written statement next to Flounder and Friends she said of the Chesapeake, “It has been a theme throughout my life: a child who played in it, a young woman who learned from it, and an old woman who acted to protect it.”

Artist Mary Ann Herron is from Still Pond; her work is about invasive plant species throwing things out of whack in the Chesapeake region.

“One of the problems with phragmites is that it is destroying biodiversity. Arrow Arum grows in swamps and is threatened by phragmites. Native Americans used it as a food source. It is a great plant and I hope it can survive despite the invasive species. I was inspired by this beautiful plant and phragmites taking over these native plants that we want to make sure we preserve,” said Herron.

President and CEO of Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Kristen Greenaway said, “I am so proud of the team that put this together. This is unlike what other art museums are doing, but this is who we are. We take risks. We do things differently. We thought we would only get a handful of entries. We got around 140 entries. It is blind judging not by us; an external group of people from the community chose them.”

Musician Ed Klein is a mirthful artist and songwriter who lays out some plain speech about the Bay. He had a video installation, “What Did a Crab Look Like,” of him performing an original song.

“It’s true they swam in the Chesapeake Bay, when they were kids. If we don’t take care of the Bay, kids in the future might not know if a crab is red or blue. I hope they take care of the environment and put some regulations on the watermen that are fair to both sides. In another song I said you can’t keep taking without returning. It is not a game that nature plays. Mine is the phenomenon of loss of the watermen. Bart Murphy took me out on the Nelly Byrd skipjack. It was a beautiful thing. They only put 24 bushels with five men on board. He talked about how they used to pull 120 by one o’clock. That is quite a decline. So, I wrote a song.”

Jill Ferris, vice president of education and interpretation for CBMM, said, “How the environment shapes their lives just as much as they shape the environment is really the crux of our mission the crux of our interpretive focus. We have people from Pennsylvania and people from Maryland and they are all together reflecting on what the Chesapeake matters to them and what the changes they see influence their lives. So you take climate change, you see rising tides reflected in art, but then there are also pieces that reflect cultural change. So the connection to waterways of the past or the working water traditions. Those changes are with us and it is how we respond and how it inspires us.”

“There is something here for everyone. This is truly a community-driven show. The artists are community members. Normally our curatorial team works to put objects on the wall. Normally we write the labels and the text on the wall. We did not do that this time. The labels were written by the artists. We have 70 artists reflected in 78 artworks in the exhibition. Anyone who is part of the community should come to see this,” said Ferris.

This show runs until February 2024. Tickets are $9 until March 31 and that gets you into all of the museum’s offerings.