Tyler Green, an award-winning author and critic, will deliver a public lecture titled The Artist, the Painter and the Invention of the National Park:  Carleton Watkins, Albert Bierstadt and the Birth of the Yosemite Idea at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18, in the Mary Eddy and Fred Jones Auditorium of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus.

Green’s talk at OU will focus on the large-scale or mammoth-plate artworks of important American artists Carleton Watkins (1829-1916, photographer) and Albert Bierstadt (1830-1902, painter) that motivated the preservation of  Yosemite and the invention of what we now call the “national park.”  Green will share breathtaking photographs and paintings of Yosemite and address its preservation in the context of the Civil War, cultural Unionism and the California Genocide.

The illustrated lecture is open to the public with no admission charge; reservations are recommended, as seating will be limited. Contact Fine Arts College Ticketing Service, 500 W. Boyd St., (405) 325-4101, between 11:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.