Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 6 p.m. in the Peoria Riverfront Museum's Giant Screen Theater
Join us for a virtual talk with Christopher Marley, the artist behind current exhibition Exquisite Creatures.
TicketsAdult: $10
Child :$5
Free for members!
Get tickets HERE
Explore how Marley interprets the beauty of the natural world through an artistic lens: symmetry, color and form.
This program is worth 100 points in your Achievement Passport.
In Exquisite Creatures, Marley uses organisms and elements as his medium, exploring our need to connect with the natural world on a personal level, inspiring biophilia — a love of life. Immerse yourself in a world where order, diversity, symmetry, and balance come to life in vibrant, awe-inspiring displays. With specimens ranging across the natural world, from snakes to fish to insects to birds, Marley creates an immersive environment that inspires wonder, and fosters a desire to preserve the natural world.
All vertebrates used in this artwork are reclaimed, meaning they passed of natural or incidental causes, most often in captivity. None were killed for this purpose.
About the Artist
Christopher Marley is an artist, naturalist, photographer, and author who uses preserved natural specimens as his medium. He grew up in the Pacific Northwest, immersed in nature from his earliest memories. During a decade spent traveling the world as a fashion model, Marley’s passion for discovering unfamiliar elements in the natural world became an obsession.
His work was born of a desire to share nature’s majesty in a way that inspires both the urbane and the nature aficionado equally. Marley believes that in the proper light, beauty is found in every organism and that the deeper our appreciation for the aesthetics of nature, the more eager we are to immerse ourselves in it and conserve it.
All of the vertebrates that Marley uses in his work are reclaimed after dying of natural or incidental causes. He has innovated techniques for a host of organisms that are not typically considered good candidates for preservation. He also utilizes insects that are collected or bred in an environmentally sensitive manner using a worldwide network of people and institutions that share his passion for nature.
Sponsored by Art Bridges, America 250 donors, Mike Rucker Endowment Fund for Science, Visionary Society and Illinois Arts Council
