7 minute read
Wild Life
From Alaska to Antarctica, naturalist Marylou Blakeslee, ’78, follows her passion to the planet’s most remote places — and inspires others to protect them.
By Beth Levine
Artwork and photos by Marylou Blakeslee
ASK MARYLOU BLAKESLEE, ’78 , where she lives, and there is a surprising pause. “Well, hmmm,” says Blakeslee, who grew up in the New Haven area where she still has many friends and relatives. Pinpointing where she now hangs her hat is a little complicated for this world traveler.
THEY CALL HER THE WANDERER
An artist and naturalist, Blakeslee has a passion for guiding visits to remote, wild regions, often with National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions. For the last 25 years, she and her wildlife photographer husband, Richard Kirchner, have educated travelers. Each season brings a new adventure. Their guests have trekked Alaska’s Inner Passage; watched polar bears romping in Churchill, Manitoba; spied wolf packs hunting in Yellowstone National Park; and caught sight of gray whales birthing in Baja, Mexico.
The couple’s journeys also have carried them to Guam, the Galápagos Islands, the Arctic, South America, and South Georgia Island — the latter described by Britannica as one of the world’s most remote islands, home to vast penguin colonies and seal herds.
Each trip provides an immersive lesson on the fragility of the natural world. Between expeditions, Blakeslee and Kirchner share what they’ve learned through lectures and workshops on the wilderness, often accompanied by a 65-minute multimedia slide show they created.
So, back to the original question: Where is home sweet home? “We’ve got places in Massachusetts, Alaska, and Montana,” says Blakeslee.
IT STARTED WITH A CANVAS
As a student at Southern in the 1970s, Blakeslee never envisioned this nomadic lifestyle. She was an art major with a focus on studio art.
“I had amazing parents who encouraged me to follow my passion for art. They didn’t have a lot of money, and they had five kids, but they wanted me to explore the world on my own terms,” she says.
Her Southern art professors — the late Nicholas Orsini who taught from 1966-92, and Michael Skop, whose work led him to Denmark, Italy, Austria, and beyond — also encouraged Blakeslee to see where life led her.
They nurtured a way of seeing the world that allowed for multiple perspectives and experiences,” she says.
Blakeslee spent one summer studying further with Skop at his studio based on a historic homestead in Fort Thomas, Ky.
True story: Skop won it after responding to a newspaper article about a free home being competitively offered to an artist. He applied, was accepted, and moved in with his family ultimately creating a beautiful studio where students worked. “I remember his teachings to this day,” says Blakeslee.
LIFE TAKES A TURN
After graduating from Southern, she earned a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She taught art for a while at Hampshire College and Trenton State College. But around age 27, a desire to see the world from a unique vantage point returned. It was time to experience the artist’s life.
In the next of many moves, she relocated to Cape Cod, Mass., where the plan was to paint all winter and work a side job during the summer.
It worked for a while; Blakeslee was paying the bills, if not exactly living the high life. But unforeseen dental expenses forced her to focus on earning a steady living.
CALL OF THE WILD
That seeming misfortune led Blakeslee on a journey of discovery — one that uncovered her soul’s passion — when she was hired as a cook at an environmental education center, NEED Collaborative, in Truro.
“I fell in love with the place,” says Blakeslee. “Artists and naturalists tend to find their way to the same places, and I’ve always loved being outside. I would cook and clean as fast as possible so that I could go out with the groups when they went on hikes,” she says.
The great outdoors was her happy place. “Anytime you step outside, magic can happen,” says Blakeslee, who encourages others to find joy in nature. “We get so involved in our own human reality that we’re not aware of what’s going on right outside the door. It’s flying over our heads; it’s crawling on the ground. It’s there all the time, and it brings people back to a sense of wonder that they may not have experienced since they were children.”
Blakeslee’s affinity to natural science was apparent, and she was soon asked to teach at the center. She balked at first, thinking she didn’t have the knowledge. “I can teach you what you need to know,” said her supervisor, “but I can’t teach anybody to love it the way you do.”
After a few years, Blakeslee had learned so much that her mentor encouraged her to apply to become a park ranger at Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska. It would mean leaving NEED short-staffed, but her employer saw it as the logical next step, an opportunity she was meant for.
“Now here I am — an abstract painter in Alaska — surrounded by world-class naturalists,” says Blakeslee. “I learned and trained hard for 23 summers in Glacier Bay National Park as well as on the job in other locales. I feel like I’ve got a master’s degree in the various sciences.”
Alaska inspired other life changes. Blakeslee connected with Lindblad Expeditions, which partners with National Geographic, and she met her husband on board one of the ships. They travel together while working for Lindblad Expeditions as well as Off the Beaten Path, which runs trips focused on nature, culture, and history.
Painting and photography remain important to Blakeslee, as she draws inspiration from the beauty of each travel destination. Her art — which captures stunning landscapes and the delicate interplay between humans and the wild — is featured in exhibits and collections in the U.S. and abroad.
THE FIGHT FOR THE PLANET
Unsurprisingly, Blakeslee is a strong advocate for saving the wild places under threat from climate change: “This topic is not political, and people who make it political are trying to undermine what it is that we’re seeing,” she says.
She gives talks on climate change every chance she gets. “I could be on a soapbox for hours,” she says with a laugh.
She notes countless reasons for concern. Each location is home to unique animal and plant species, some found nowhere else. “The planet has given us answers to questions that emerged as humanity evolved,” says Blakeslee. “Our very survival requires having wild places where we can search for what we may need in the future. And not by harvesting it and tearing it all down but by leaving places intact so we can learn from them.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO…
You can join Blakeslee on one of her adventures with Lindblad Expeditions at expeditions.com/about/expedition-team/marylou-blakeslee or offthebeatenpath.com.
MORE ON PROGRAMS IN ART AND DESIGN: SouthernCT.edu/academics/art AND THE ENVIRONMENT, GEOGRAPHY, AND MARINE SCIENCES: SouthernCT.edu/academics/egms
