The World of Monty and Rose Film Screening

This program will be held in-person at the Newberry.

The World of Monty and Rose is a 2021 documentary film that tells the story of a pair of federally endangered Great Lakes Piping Plovers as they attempt to nest on the "busiest stretch of the busiest beach" in Chicago. The documentary follows the story of the plovers and the hundreds of volunteers who protected them. Against the odds, Monty and Rose re-establish Chicago as piping plover territory after a seventy-year absence from the city.

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A session with Bob Dolgan and Patty Wetli.

This event is part of programming connected with our free exhibition, Winging It: A Brief History of Human’s Relationship with Birds, running June 20, 2025 through September 27, 2025.

Speakers

Bob Dolgan is the director of The World of Monty and Rose, a lifelong birder, and former editor of Illinois Ornithological Society’s Meadowlark journal. His other films include The Magic Stump (2022) and Fluddles (2023). He also serves as the Newberry’s Director of Communications and curator of the exhibition, Winging It: A Brief History of Humanity’s Relationship with Birds. He won an Excellence in Environmental Reporting Award from Chicago Audubon Society in 2022.

Patty Wetli is a reporter for WTTW News, covering urban nature and the environment. She's earned a Midwest Emmy for her work on the award-winning "WTTW News Explains" series and has also received multiple Lisagor Awards from the Chicago Headline Club for her science reporting. She pens a weekly column, City in a Garden, for WTTW's daily e-newsletter. Prior to joining WTTW News, Patty was a reporter for the news site DNAinfo Chicago — earning a Lisagor for her column "Hortus in Urb" — and she's also reported for Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Cost and Registration

This program is free and open to all. Advance registration required.

Registration opens July 1.

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Questions?

Call us at (312) 255-3592 or send us an email.

Past Public Programs

Check out video recordings of past Newberry public programs on our YouTube channel.