Eclipse poster artist’s exhibit orbits Rochester 

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Nothing says ‘I was there’ like nabbing the commemorative poster–and we don’t mean bragging rights to a coveted concert seat or hip underground show. This is the commemorative poster for the April 2024 total solar eclipse, created by an astronomer in anticipation of the big event.

University of Redlands physics professor and California-based astronomer Tyler Nordgren teaches his students how to study the stars, but his audience extends beyond the classroom and into art galleries, National Parks, NASA, and even the Smithsonian, where visitors can view the poster he made to commemorate the 2017 total solar eclipse.

Rochester wasn’t in the zone of totality for that event, but it’s directly in the path of the much-hyped eclipse happening next April.

This month, patrons of Flight Wine Bar Downtown (262 Exchange St.) will have a chance to see Nordren’s 2017 eclipse poster and his new poster that he made in anticipation of the 2024 total solar eclipse, as well as dozens of other posters he designed in celebration of New York State parks.

A self-styled “Night Sky Ambassador,” Nordgren has worked for more than a decade with the National Parks Service to educate the public about science and astronomy. He offers “night sky training” to park rangers, as the remote locations of parks offer some of the darkest night skies in these modern times.

Many of his parks posters — which are designed in the romantic, epic style of vintage travel posters — reflect this interest, featuring a swirl of The Milky Way, the moon, and other heavenly bodies above the featured terrain. Other posters are even more out there, envisioning space bars on neighboring planets and other destinations on Jovian moons, for example.

Sponsored by the Rochester Eclipse Task Force, Nordgren’s poster exhibit has been traveling to different venues each month since April, and will continue to do so through April 2024. The work will be presented at Flight’s Corn Hill Landing location throughout the month of July, with a party from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 18.  (Details here.)

Nordgren’s work is also viewable during Flight’s open hours, 4 to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, and 4 to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Posters can also be ordered directly from eclipsemerchandise.com.

Rebecca Rafferty is an arts writer for CITY Magazine. She can be reached at [email protected].