The Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History will present a new exhibition by artist Alberto Rey this fall. The Extinct Birds Project will be featured at RTPI from Aug. 17 to Dec. 14 and will include 18 original works by the artist. The Project also includes a new book by Rey, along with programming in partnership with RTPI. RTPI invites you to an artist’s reception, gallery talk, and book signing with Alberto Rey on Friday, Aug. 17, from 5-7 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

The 208-page, full-color Extinct Birds Project publication, that accompanies the exhibition, is a collaboration between Rey and designer Jason Dilworth, and examines collecting practices, causes for extinction and the politics of categorizing endangered species. It also includes specific information about eighteen extinct bird specimens and their collectors as well as an overview of our status as we stand on the brink of the next mass extinction period. Eighteen bird skins were selected for inclusion into the initial painting series and book. These species were curated by variety in size, global reach, popularity and reasons for extinction.

Alberto Rey is a painter, filmmaker, writer, fly fishing guide, distinguished professor and founder/director of a youth fly fishing program and he has been involved in environmental art for the past twenty years. For more information, please visit albertorey.com and bagmatiriverartproject.com.

Jason Dilworth is an environmentally-conscious graphic designer, outdoorsman, cyclist and professor who works on global design projects. For more information, please visit designersandforest.us, jasondilworth.com and bagmatiriverartproject.com. Jason and Alberto have collaborated on several projects in the past including one on the Bagmati River in Kathmandu and are currently working with the United States Forest Service and Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History to document the good work being done by communities in New Mexico to protect the national forests.

Join RTPI for the following programs this fall:

Lecture and Book Signing Sept. 21, 7-8 p.m.; Bird Skinning Workshop Oct. 20, 10-11 a.m.; Designers and Forests Workshop Oct. 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; RTPI Grounds Tour and Drawing Workshop Nov. 3, 10 a.m. to noon.

For more information about The Extinct Birds Project visit www.extinctbirdsproject.com. Call RTPI at 665-2473 or visit rtpi.org for additional information on events and exhibits. The Roger Tory Peterson Institute is located at 311 Curtis St. in Jamestown.