While many are familiar with the UTA Fine Art Collections displayed in our galleries and satellite exhibitions across campus, many are unaware that UT Arlington houses a series of research collections to support the many fields of study we offer, including the Wet Specimens Collection housed at the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center (ARDRC).

For this interdisciplinary exhibition, we present the intersection of art and science by featuring the work of Dr. Luke Frishkoff, Associate Professor of Biology, and Artist Documentarian Osra West. Through digital photography, paintings, and drawings, West brings to life the work of Frishkoff’s research on Evolutionary Ecology. This intersectional study of ecology and biology focuses on how environmental factors such as climate, food competition, and natural selection can influence a species’ evolution and, in this case, the anoles of the Greater Antilles islands in the Caribbean. Also on display are a series of vibrantly colorful beaded sashes of the Yoruba peoples of Africa that reference reptiles and showcase the cultural footprint of the Yoruba’s influence on the region.

Please join us throughout the fall semester, Tuesday, September 8, through Friday, November 13. The opening reception will be Thursday, September 10, 5 p.m.-7 p.m. We will host a Creature Feature event in collaboration with the UTA Herpetology Club on Wednesday, October 14, 12 -2pm.

The UTA Fine Art Collections Gallery, housed within the Visual Resource Collections, Ste. 2109, Fine Arts Building, second floor. The gallery is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (as staffing is available).

Walk-ins are welcome and group visits are available via scheduled appointments. For more information on this exhibition or other artworks from the University of Texas at Arlington Fine Art Collections, please contact Cheryl Mitchell, Collections Specialist, at cherylm@uta.edu.