Shell museum announces speakers for lecture series
The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum recently announced its 2022 Season Lecture Series, which will be held in-person. The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company is the presenting sponsor.
“This speaker lineup, featuring award-winning journalists, best-selling authors, curators and photographers, will bring important voices to the islands and offer fresh perspectives of regional and global issues of biodiversity and ecosystem, and roles shells, mollusks and other marine life play,” Executive Director Sam Ankerson said.
All of the lectures will be held at the museum, with the exception of the one scheduled for Feb. 1. Sy Montgomery, author of “The Soul of an Octopus,” will talk at The Community House on Sanibel.
“The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum has been a treasured organization of the islands for decades. The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company has been privileged to have been represented on the Board for many years and is proud to be a significant contributor and sponsor of their wonderful events,” founder and Chairman Al Hanser said.
The lectures in the series are as follows:
– Jan. 21 at 5:30 p.m.: “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans” with environmental journalist Cynthia Barnett
In a program for the museum, where the idea for her new book “The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans” was born, award-winning environmental author Cynthia Barnett gives an inside look on her six-year journey researching the relationship between humans and seashells. Traveling from Florida to the Bahamas to the Maldives, West Africa, and beyond, she explores the ancient history of shells as global currency, their use as religious and luxury objects, and the rarely appreciated but remarkable creatures that make them.
– Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m.: “The Soul of An Octopus” with author Sy Montgomery
In her three years of research for her New York Times best-selling book “The Soul of an Octopus,” National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery established such close friendships with giant Pacific octopuses that the animals would rise from their tanks to greet her, and then embrace her. Her talk shares details of these relationships, as well as scholarly research revealing octopuses’ intellectual abilities as they solve puzzles, communicate through color and shape, and play with people and toys. Pursuing the solitary shape-shifters — creatures with no bones, three hearts, and blue blood — Montgomery examines the kinds of possible minds, mystery of consciousness and nature of love. The lecture is made possible by Fran Peters and Island Vacations.
– Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m.: “Shell Trumpets: The Sound Heard Around the World” with Dr. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer, curator of musical instruments for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
One of the world’s most widespread, enduring, and beautifully designed musical instruments was not made by human hands — it is the elegant shell of various types of conchs. Humble but majestic, at once both practical and mystical, conch trumpets have been used for millennia to signal, convey power, accompany spiritual practice, and make music. Dr. Bradley Strauchen-Scherer, joined by Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum Director and Curator Dr. Jose H. Leal, will explore the timeless art and artistry of shell trumpets.
– March 15 at 5:30 p.m.: “Deep Water Adventure: The Unexpected and Beautiful World of Blackwater Diving” with photographer Linda Ianniello
Every night the largest animal migration on earth takes place in the oceans of the world, with marine life emerging from the depths under cover of darkness to feed. It creates opportunity for divers and underwater photographers looking for something new and unique; a “blackwater dive” means diving at night in the deep ocean and searching for subjects to observe and photograph. Linda Ianniello will describe her experiences diving miles off the coast of Southeast Florida, and the diversity of sea life she has encountered and photographed. Her talk will have a focus on mollusks, including those featured in a special exhibition of blackwater photographs by her and Susan Mears, “Black Water Moments: Nocturnal Photography of Open-Ocean Mollusks,” on view at the museum from Dec. 1 to May 30.
– April 6 at 5:30 p.m.: “Paradise Considered: Photographs of Nature and Change in Southwest Florida” with News-Press photographer and multimedia journalist Andrew West
The nature of Southwest Florida is stunning and unique in its power to inspire the devotion of residents, influence the economy and government, and attract millions of visitors from around the world. It is also constantly changing and increasingly at risk as a result of natural processes and man-made factors. For over 20 years, visual journalist Andrew West has documented the beauty, complexity, and important events of the region’s natural world as a photographer for The News-Press. Joined by Ankerson, he will share some of his most compelling photographs and the stories, events, and issues behind them. The program is in conjunction with a special exhibition, “Red, Blue, Green: An Introduction to Water Quality in Southwest Florida,” that features his photographs at the museum from Jan. 15 to June 10.
For more information and to register, visit ShellMuseum.org.