The Chauvet cave painting above is among the first known art in the world. We think of it as the birth of culture and civil society. Humanity reflecting on its own practices. A history of civil society would, therefore, be a history of civilization.
The Institute is dedicated to the renewal of civil society. Its own contribution is made through its commitment to research and education. Our work is currently organized around various projects in public history, social organization, and adult education.
Andrew Downs (1811-1892) created the first Zoological Gardens in North America in Dutch Village in 1847, at the head of the Northwest Arm, expanding it eventually to over 40 hectares (100 acres) in size. He was humble and gentle, a practicing naturalist, who saw Nature as the greatest Temple and set out to share it with the public at large, not as dead, sterile taxidermied mounts, but as a living menagerie, to be experienced by all.
