June 7, 2006

Carnegie Museum of Natural History presents
Fur, Feathers and Fossils: The Art of Mark Klingler

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Pittsburgh …Get a rare opportunity to get a look in the process of scientific illustration and reconstruction at a new exhibit at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Fur, Feathers and Fossils: The Art of Mark Klingler, a solo exhibit by Mark A. Klingler, Carnegie Museum of Natural History's scientific illustrator, takes museum visitors through the process of creating illustrations from fossil remains. The Fur, Feathers and Fossils: The Art of Mark Klingler runs June 10 through October 8 and is free with museum admission.

As a scientific illustrator, Klingler reconstructs fossil organisms. His projects may be as straightforward as rendering a skull fragment in pen and ink, or as unusual as painting the likeness of an extinct mammal on his own hand for a creative National Geographic photo shoot. No matter what the subject may be, the creatures no longer exist, and Klingler must rely on clues which scientists deduce both from the fossils themselves and from the modern relatives and plants living today.

To realistically and accurately portray fossil creatures and their environments, Klingler first researches living mammals and primates by taking photos at zoos, watching documentaries, and working with scientists. He also studies specimens, fossils of various species, and mounts or skeletons of modern relatives. Some of the fossils he reconstructs come from barren landscapes, such as the wide open spaces of Wyoming and the deserts of central China. These locations were once teeming with ecosystems similar to today's tropics and the southern United States, with many creatures interacting in the survival game. Working with scientists at each step, Klingler is ultimately able to create an interpretation of how the animal and its environment, neither which exist today, may have appeared.

One of Klingler's recent projects was the reconstruction of a new, unnamed species of oviraptorosaur, one of the "feathered dinosaurs." The illustration for this exhibit appears in the Fur, Feathers & Fossils exhibit but with a very special added component designed to enable a broader diversity of visitors to enjoy and learn from the exhibit. The exhibit panels depicting the steps involved in Klingler's reconstructions offer unique, raised line-art of the progressive stages in fleshing out the oviraptorosaur, from fossil bed to articulated skeleton to finished model. The text on each informational panel is supplemented with Braille. Klingler hopes that the tactile nature of the panels will broaden the exhibit experience for visitors of all ages and abilities.

Klingler began his career in scientific illustration as a work-study student while earning his degree in Graphic Design from Carnegie Mellon University. Klingler worked in the Section of Invertebrate Zoology (bugs) at Carnegie Museum of Natural History for several years, later earning a certificate in Painting & Sculpture from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. He returned to the museum in his current position.

His work has been published in National Geographic, Discover, Nature, Science, Journal of Human Evolution, The Johns Hopkins University Press, University of California Press - Berkeley, and Web sites such as CNN.com, BBC.com, and Reuters.com. Venues for Klingler's shows, lectures, and workshops include Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Mellon University, National Audubon Society, New York State Museum, and Denver Museum of Nature & Science. An instructor at Pittsburgh's Oakbridge Academy of Arts and an active member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) and Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators (PSI), Mark has presented workshops and shows on wildlife illustration at both the local and national level. He is also an instructor for the Botanical Illustration certificate program offered through Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Garden.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, can be enjoyed Tuesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays 12 p.m.-5 p.m., Mondays after July 4th through the week before Labor Day. Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens, $6 for children ages 3-18 and full-time students with ID and free for members and children under 3. Convenient parking is available at the museum's six-level parking facility, located directly behind the museum. The museum can be accessed from the intersection of Forbes Avenue and South Craig Street. For more information, please call (412) 622-3131 or visit www.carnegiemnh.org.