Darwin Day is an international celebration of science and humanity that is observed each year on Charles Darwin's birthday, February 12. In 2007, Foley Center Library joined organizations worldwide in celebrating Darwin Day with a display in our main floor display case. In 2008, we hosted an interactive display that encouraged the Gonzaga community to comment on evolutionary science book reviews written by the Biology Department faculty.
2009 marks two important anniversaries for the history of evolutionary theory. In addition to being the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, 2009 is also the 150th anniversary year of the publication of Darwin's seminal work, On the Origin of Species.
In honor of these anniversaries, Foley Center Library will display a small collection of juried original artists' books that faithfully portray the science behind evolution and/or the political and social history of evolutionary theory in a book arts form. The winning entries were selected by a diverse panel of judges (Gonzaga Faculty in the Departments of Art, Biology, English, Philosophy, and Library Special Collections), and will be installed in Foley Special Collections as part of The Codex & The Helix: Book Arts Exploring Evolution. Winning entries and the legacy of Darwin will be celebrated at a reception on February 12, 2009. More details on the exhibition and our Darwin Day reception coming soon!
Book Arts = flip-book, scroll, folded map, accordion-style book, pamphlet, scrapbook, wheel chart/volvelle, or any other art that's "bookish." The physical form you choose adds to your content and your message.
Evolutionary Theory = the cornerstone of modern biology, explaining the origin and diversity of living things as a result of four mechanisms: natural selection, genetic drift, gene flow, and mutation.
Evolutionary Theory + Your Original Book Art = The Codex & The Helix: Book Arts Exploring Evolution.
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For some fantastic examples of how the sciences and the arts can be combined to produce extraordinary book arts, visit Science and the Artist's Book, an exhibition by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and the Washington Project for the Arts.
For more information about book arts, check out The Book Arts Web.