Touch the Sky Prairie Exhibit in Oklahoma

Jim Brandenburg's Touch the Sky Prairie Exhibit has been touring the country and will currently be on display at The Sam Noble Museum of Natural History in Norman, Oklahoma starting February 14 through April 12.

Touch the Sky is a tribute to the breathtaking vistas and iconic creatures of the American prairie. World-renowned nature photographer Jim Brandenburg captures the wide-open magnificence of the prairie, as well as its often over-looked intricate details. In panoramic images, we see great herds of bison as well as the lowly grasshopper, dragonfly and dove. Lightning storms and wildfire rage across the landscape, while delicate blossoms sway in the breeze and yellow cottonwood leaves rest on new fallen snow. Through these photos, Brandenburg reveals the cycles of life with both precision and aesthetic grace.
Though best known for his work with National Geographic and his portraits of wolves in the North Woods, Jim has been returning in recent years to his prairie roots. Growing up on the open, windblown prairies of southwest Minnesota, he started his photographic career with images of wildlife on a small, remnant patch of prairie near his grandfather's farm. Expanding from this Minnesota base, the exhibition includes images from prairies in Nebraska, Iowa, the Dakotas, Oklahoma, Illinois and other states.

The exhibit's next stop is The University Museum at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, November 2 through December 25, 2009.