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Hoosier Lifelines: Environmental and Social Change Along the Monon, 1847-2020
The Carnegie Center for Art and History is pleased to host the exhibition Hoosier Lifelines: Environmental and Social Change Along the Monon, 1847-2020, an artistic and historical exploration of Indiana’s changing environment along the remains of the historic Monon Railroad, from the Ohio River’s banks to Lake Michigan’s dunes.
The Monon’s centrality to Indiana’s social and economic life was captured by the company’s mid-twentieth century nickname: the “Hoosier Lifeline.” Today, its trains went and its tracks largely deserted, the Monon’s path serves as the foundation on which to build a new understanding of the interplay of landscapes, ecosystems, and communities across time and space. At a time when Hoosiers face growing risks from environmental change, public health threats, and economic turmoil, we return to Indiana’s Lifeline to ask:
What becomes of the future we once imagined for ourselves?
What replaces the network of resources, communities, and workers that once brought our state together?
What will sustain those communities in a time of diminishing resources and accelerating environmental change?
More than a reflection on one rail line, Hoosier Lifelines’ assembled photographs, artifacts, and historical narratives illuminate the long history of what scientists now call the Anthropocene—the age of humans—in Indiana. By bringing the artistic and historical study to bear on the network of industry, commerce, agriculture, and energy that Hoosiers built during the line’s 100+ years of service, the exhibition transports visitors to a new appreciation of a familiar place.