UNK’s Walker Art Gallery launches Platte Basin Timelapse exhibition

KEARNEY, NE — Science and beauty are converging at an art gallery mere miles from the project’s subject.

The Walker Art Gallery at the University of Nebraska-Kearney hosted a reception to kick off “Witnessing a Watershed” on Wednesday. The exhibition showcases multimedia selections from the Platte Basin Timelapse project. Gallery Director Matt Ziemke has been working to bring the project to Kearney for about a year.

“I think that we’re all compelled by the beauty of nature in our own ways," Ziemke said. "This project really displays just what is miraculous and amazing about the Platte Basin.”

Renowned photographers Michael Forsberg and Michael Farrell started the project in 2011. They have more than 60 camera systems set up across Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming. Producer Ethan Freese says they hope to help people understand where their water comes from.

“So we have an archive of over 3 million images that we can use to show how these landscapes are changing over time," Freese said. "(It shows) how the water flows through the basin, the various dams and reservoirs it goes through and also all the different uses that water has.”

The exhibition displays time-lapse scenes as prints, videos, slideshows and soundscape recordings. It also includes one of the time-lapse cameras.

“I think the work kind of speaks for itself," Ziemke said. "The way that the researchers have compiled this imagery and this information is enough for anyone to gain something from it.”

The exhibition is free and will displayed through Feb. 23.