Dr. Roberta Bondar in the Sault to unveil new photo exhibit

Bondar returns to the Sault for photo exhibit Canadian astronaut Dr. Roberta Bondar is home in Sault Ste. Marie this week for the launch of her latest photography exhibition.

Dr. Roberta Bondar is a woman of many talents.

The first Canadian woman and neurologist to visit space, she has also become a renowned photographer.

The Sault native has had five art exhibits showcasing her knack for capturing the beauty of the natural world. Now in her sixth exhibit, she's putting a message of conservation behind her work.

Bondar, 77, unveiled ‘Patterns & Parallels: The Great Imperative to Survive’ to a packed gallery space at the Art Gallery of Algoma on Wednesday evening before its public opening.

She told CTV News she didn't want to use her artwork as a way of shaming people into caring for the space we occupy. Instead, she chose to embrace the aesthetics of the avian species in her work.

"The sense of being inspired and being uplifted, rather than feeling that everything we do as human beings is wrong, but rather look at what we can do,” Bondar said.

“It’s sort of the ‘can-do’ portion of my life."

Art Gallery of Algoma executive director Jasmina Jovanovic said Bondar is a legendary perfectionist. As a result, her work draws people in, inviting them to listen to her.

"She's showing us the beauty and giving us -- meaning humans, all of us -- giving us a task to protect that beauty. The beauty of nature and everything living on this planet."

The exhibit focuses on three migratory birds: the whooping crane, the piping plover and the lesser flamingo from Africa.

"I wanted them endangered or near-threatened,” Bondar said, of why she chose those three species.

“I wanted them to be seen from the air and I wanted them to have a good story so they can be symbolic of migratory birds in each of the two hemispheres."

She spent nearly a decade traversing the globe for these images.

Her project, AMASS (avian migration aerial, surface, space) examines the migratory routes of seven species of endangered or threatened birds.

It partners with NASA to photograph the routes and habitats of the avian species from the International Space Station.

Bondar has also searched the archives of the space agency herself.

FROM APOLLO DAYS TO NOW

"I've gone through NASA's images right from the Apollo days to now,” she said.

“Tens of thousands to try to get the images I need over some of these areas."

The exhibit is expected to bring thousands to the Art Gallery of Algoma, both for those interested in the artwork and fans of the former astronaut.

The exhibit will be at the Art Gallery of Algoma until Oct. 15.

Jovanovic is thrilled that the astronaut-turned-artist still debuts her work in her home city.

"We are absolutely thrilled that we are her, still, her gallery of choice so to speak. That we are her first venue."

Patterns & Parallels: The Great Imperative will then make stops at galleries across North America in the next few years.

Bondar said the plight these species is a global story and will resonate with people wherever they view the gallery.

"My mother always said, if you love something, you'll protect it ... I want to make people love these birds."