Great Lakes Cycle - Department of Biology

Scientific and Artistic Exploration of Paintings by Alexis Rockman

Explore our online multimedia electronic text/course to learn more about the images and ideas in The Great Lakes Cycle paintings.

The Full Package includes access to all SEVEN modules that explore the five main paintings in The Great Lakes Cycle as well as provide some background information on science and art intepretation.  Web technology allows you to zoom in on details in each of these complex paintings and then explore background materials at your own pace. Each module includes a series of relevant essays illustrated with photographs, art, drawings and maps. You will also find more than 30 short videos in the materials, including many interviews with Great Lakes specialists and even an interview with Alexis Rockman. Topics covered range from specific items in the painting (such as lake trout and Niagara Falls) to scientific concepts (invasive species, wetland loss) to artistic ideas (narrative storytelling) to history and culture (First Peoples, shipping and shipwrecks) and many more! There is a total of more than 30 hours of content. Note that access to the course requires internet access (the materials are not available as a download).

Increasing engagement in science through the window of art

Northern Michigan University is pleased to collaborate with artist Alexis Rockman and the Grand Rapids Art Museum to offer an online course based on Rockman’s paintings of the Great Lakes.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum commissioned Rockman to create The Great Lakes Cycle, an exhibition that celebrates the natural majesty and global importance of the Great Lakes while exploring how they are threatened by factors such as climate change, globalization, invasive species, mass agriculture and urban sprawl. The centerpiece is a suite of five mural-sized paintings depicting separate themes that emerged during his research tour of the region.

NMU is developing an online course based on The Great Lakes Cycle, designed for K-12 teacher education and classroom use, but also accessible to the general public in order to enhance everyone’s knowledge of the Great Lakes. NMU biology professor Jill Leonard, art and design professors Taimur Cleary and Daric Christian, along with a team of undergraduate students, are developing the course with the idea that approaching the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) through the arts may increase the engagement and understanding of students with a broader range of interests.

The course will consist of a series of short essays, videos and illustrations, focusing on aspects of the paintings, ranging from marine archeology and ecology to the history of hunting and fishing, Native Americans, natural resources and industry.