Merced County Courthouse Museum will open a new exhibit entitled, “A State of Change: Forgotten Landscapes of California,” on Thursday, March 6. This exhibit is based on Laura Cunningham’s book of the same title published by the Heyday Books. It presents California’s landscape as it appeared 500 years ago. To achieve this, ecologist and artist Laura Cunningham, after her extensive research, uses her striking paintings of the past and vivid photographs of the present to show California’s transformed landscapes. At the opening reception, Cunningham will give a PowerPoint presentation at 6:00 p.m. and will be available for book signing. The event is free to the public.