Nature is amazing, as Rory Padeken noted in his August 1 slide preview for the docents.  Nature is also fragile and widely attacked by intentional or unwitting acts of carelessness.  But that is not the theme of this show, although it is evident in many of the images.  The theme is more like diverse ways of perceiving the wonder of nature.  Clearly, "Destruction" is one of the visible themes in the show, as exemplified by Chester Arnold, Michael Light and others.  But "Observation" is also a theme, illustrating the rewards of carefully viewing nature, like Anne Appleby does.  Further, nature has intrinsic changes, so the third theme is "Transformation." and Diana Thater presents transformation like no one else.  Finally, there is a interplay among different facets of nature, so the final theme is "Connection."  One place where this is found is in the work by Evan Holm, which was commissined by the San Jose Museum of Art.     (RJS)

Artists featured in the exhibition include Lisa Adams, Anne Appleby, Chester Arnold, Ruth Asawa, Sandow Birk, Val Britton, Edward Burtynsky, Evan Holm, Chris Jordan, Amy Kaufman, Michael Light, Mayme Kratz, Danae Mattes, Richard Misrach, Judy Pfaff, Nathan Redwood, Sam Richardson, Diana Thater, Alyson Shotz, Kathryn Spence, Kirsten Stolle, and Gail Wight.