Nature and Culture 180

We went this evening to the final presentation by the undergraduate class for Nature and Culture 180—each student had made an artist’s book following a week up at Sagehen in the Truckee River watershed in September. In this class they have written a scientific paper, done creative writing exercises, and made paper from lichens and other natural materials in addition to their final project, the book.

The resulting pieces were surprisingly varied in form. At left is Stacey McCulloch with her piece, Looking Through, featuring an aspen branch with knot-eye. The quality of the work was very high. I hope this means there will be more in the way of book arts in Davis…

Nature and Culture is actually an undergraduate major here. If I were considering college at this point in my life it’s something I’d definitely be interested in doing. No more useless than the degree I actually got (Spanish/French), and from what I can tell, a very great deal more fun.