Trespassing, Fences and Fire

by award-winning artist, writer and naturalist James Prosek

Hosted by HLFM director Pierce Rafferty

In this recorded illustrated talk, presented August 20, 2023, James Prosek, discusses his latest project documenting Texas prairies in which he continues his inquiries about boundaries that humans impose on the landscape. Prosek has spent the last two years visiting remnant prairies across Texas learning about the complexity of grassland ecosystems and working to show the beauty of these places through visual art.

Those who love the grasslands at the Parade Ground and Middle Farms Flats will be on familiar territory with James’s words and images in this illustrated talk. His upcoming exhibition Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, TX opens in mid-September.

Fire and fences: The stories of the Texas prairie
Essay written by James Prosek for the Amon Carter Museum of American Art
August 08, 2023

“I can’t say I had ever looked at grass closely before—or at all. Where I grew up in Connecticut and still live, grass to me was just stuff that grew on highway medians or in hay meadows. . . After my first trip to Texas, my perspective shifted completely.”