KVCC Museum Exhibits Focus on Kalamazoo

Kalamazoo Through the Eyes of Murphy Darden Through March 19, 2023

For the past several decades, Kalamazoo resident and nonagenarian Murphy Darden has indulged his passion for teaching others about histories which have long been ignored in classrooms and in public discourse. He has accomplished this through the amassment of endless artifacts, images and historic documents chronicling the achievements of African Americans.

However, not all history can be adequately represented through the artifacts, which bear witness to events. Sometimes, the richest and most complicated stories are better interpreted through artistic expression. It was in these situations, where parts of the story were missing, that Darden created hundreds of artworks to fill in the gaps. Many of the local people, places and events portrayed are scarcely documented elsewhere. The artist hopes future generations will understand the important contributions of African Americans to the history of Kalamazoo.

Darden attended all-Black schools in Aberdeen, Mississippi, where history and geography textbooks had lessons based on the assertion of white supremacy. As an adult, he developed his knowledge of a more accurate version of American history. Combining his personal memories with intense study of written records, photographs and objects, Murphy Darden has developed a perspective as an artist that is both powerful and provocative.

Moments in Time: The Kalamazoo County Photo Documentary Project Through June 4, 2023

In 1984, during the 100th anniversary of Kalamazoo becoming a city, a group of photographers spent a few months documenting what life was like in the city. Since then, the project has expanded to a yearlong process of documenting Kalamazoo County every decade or so, most recently during 2020. Each project has grown in the number of photographers as well as the photos submitted for consideration, which have now reached into the thousands. Learn more about this important project and the people who made it happen, and see images that will shape the community’s understanding of Kalamazoo County history in the future.

For more information, visit kalamazoomuseum.org. The museum is located at 230 N. Rose St. in downtown Kalamazoo. General admission is free.

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum is operated by Kalamazoo Valley Community College and is governed by its Board of Trustees.

Thank Heaven for February! Although I am writing this in January, I am eager for our shortest month to present herself. She sits at the midpoint between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox. Mornings get a bit lighter, and it is twilight at dinnertime. My birthday is in February, as is Valentine’s Day, and chocolate treats and birthday cakes always lift my spirits. Spring is just around the corner after all the merriment has subsided.

February, however, is notable for hardship and shortage in the natural world. To indigenous peoples, the full moon in this month is known by many names, none cheerful or optimistic.

For native peoples, February was a time to be endured and survived. Notably, this month can only have one full moon because complete moon cycling takes slightly over 29 days. No “blue moons,” the name given to a second full moon occurring in any given month. The moon at this time is known as the “snow moon,” or the “bony moon.” It is even called the “black bear moon” since, during this time, bear cubs are born and grow fat and snuggly beside their drowsy mothers. They spend weeks greedily nursing while she remains mainly in the den for long periods, venturing out only occasionally. Although historically, in Kalamazoo, January is the coldest, snowiest month, for many locales, that “honor” comes in February. My most recent frame of reference to this season, which haunts me a bit, is naming this month’s moon as the “hunger moon.”

In her excellent book, Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer refers to the time of the hunger moon as one fraught with blizzards - much like the one we recently encountered just before the holidays, with howling winds and hungry stomachs for which no food is available. She tells the tale of a monster, Windigo that lurks in the forest to eat starving humans out in search of food. That meal, however, does not satiate the beast but only feeds its greedy hunger for more.

The Windigo story reminds us that our needs are best met when we cooperate with others in our community. We are not alone, and the mutual support we give and receive from neighbors makes a harsh winter more tolerable, if not easier. I suspect I got too comfortable during the pandemic – hunkered down in the house. This year I’ve ventured out much more than in the past two years, and I’m reminded that there are many worthwhile ways to spend my time communally with others.

Times are hard right now for many of our human neighbors. Of course, the season is also challenging for animals. Chickens lay fewer eggs when days are short, and nights are long. When I hear coyotes calling in the distance, I’m glad to have my cats inside and warming my feet under the covers. Although my chuckle-headed dogs like to go out and roll around in the snow, they are equally happy to come back inside and curl up together on one of their beds.

But for our undomesticated neighbors, times may be lean indeed. Whether nature brings us a bomb cyclone or a polar vortex, Michigan wildlife must venture out for food, at least on occasion, and try to stay safe from hungry predators – not the Windigo of legend, but real-life carnivores, like coyotes, foxes, and even bears. Thankfully, bears aren’t a problem in our neck of the “mitten.”

Hibernation is the safest option. As daylight hours are reduced in the late fall, skunks, bats, chipmunks, and woodchucks drop into a deep sleeplike state characterized by slow heart and respiratory rates, and a muchreduced digestive cycle. Hibernating animals typically find a sheltered area that is safe from predators and can be temperature-controlled by their slow metabolic rate. Once ensconced in their shelter, body systems slow to a crawl, and they remain in this state until the days grow longer. If they’ve been fortunate in the temperate months, they should have enough stored body fat to slowly break down those resources until spring arrives.

If you’re a fan of PBS Nature-type shows, as I am, you’ve undoubtedly seen a clip of a fox or wolf diving into the deep snow trying to catch a meal. The intended prey for these animals are smaller rodents, who live communally in complex tunnels under the snow. Here, under the cloak of white, they maintain stores of seeds and typically remain awake, vigilant, and fast under their wintry blanket. My recollection of the video clips is that it’s a rare pounce that rewards the carnivore. Very little success for each attempt!

Reptiles and amphibians survive by burying themselves deep in soil or mud. They freeze solid, as I can attest to since one of my dogs brought me a perfectly solid half-toad some years back. Yuk!! These animals have evolved the ability to produce an anti-freeze-like enzyme that causes their cells to release the water that usually makes up most of that structure. The water freezes solid outside the cells, hence the rigidity of a frozen frog or toad. At the same time, the liver begins to make large amounts of glucose that pack into the cell structure and maintain its basic shape. It’s like a grotesque freeze pop. These anti-freeze adaptations are extremely useful and have been widely studied as a focus of biomedical research for possible use in human systems.

Some actual winter soldiers include rabbits and non-migrating birds that remain active throughout the winter season. Rabbits, of course, are nature’s perfect prey species, easy to catch, with plenty of muscle for protein, and a prodigious reproductive rate. Several months ago, I wrote about their value to ecosystems, and it is in the winter rabbits provide their most important service to the circle of life – as a much-needed meal. Fret not; there will be plenty more of them come early spring!

All this thinking of hunger and scarcity makes me grateful for the blessings of my life – a warm bed, a sleeping dog at my feet, a cat in my lap, a steaming mug of cocoa, and indoor plumbing! What more could anyone want? Take a few minutes to be grateful – you won’t regret it!

Cheryl Hach Retired Science Teacher Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center