Opening of “VITAL: Our Irreplaceable Earth”

Join us at the Opening Night of VITAL: Our Irreplaceable Earth, a powerful new exhibition honoring William & Mary’s Year of the Environment. Through photography, VITAL highlights Earth’s most vulnerable landscapes — places rich in irrecoverable carbon that if released into the atmosphere will accelerate climate change in ways we cannot undo.

Explore the exhibition, enjoy light refreshments and meet some of the people who brought this exhibition to life. The Museum Café will offer beer and wine for purchase.

VITAL is the result of a unique collaboration between science and storytelling, led by Conservation International’s Lui-Walton Innovators Fellow Ami Vitale and climate scientist Allie Goldstein, creator of the groundbreaking global map of irrecoverable carbon. Together, they curated a powerful photographic journey that bridges art and science to deepen public understanding of what’s at stake.

Featuring eight world-renowned photographers — Ami Vitale, Musuk Nolte, Reuben Wu, Adeolu Osibodu, Tamara Dean, Jim Naughten, Maíra Erlich and Nick Brandt — the exhibition takes viewers across the globe, from the tropical peatlands of the Amazon to the temperate rainforests of North America. Through striking imagery and compelling storytelling, this collection reveals the beauty, urgency and profound interconnectedness of Earth’s most essential ecosystems. It is both a celebration of nature’s wonder and a call to protect what we cannot afford to lose.

No registration necessary.

Sponsored by: W&M Year of the Environment, Muscarelle Museum of Art, Institute for Integrative Conservation