Additional custom content designed by the Smithsonian exclusively for this venue highlights the unique and provocative way scientists and conservationists are approaching the loss of plant biodiversity - particularly through their work with botanical artists whose images serve as an essential historic record of plant species. One area focuses on Alice Tangerini's work for the Museum, providing a step-by-step description of her illustration process along with displays of tools and materials.

The Smithsonian's staff, especially Siobhan Starrs, Exhibit Developer and Angela Roberts, Writer, both in the Office of Exhibits, and Gary Krupnick provided technical, scientific, and design expertise and were major contributors to the exhibition's development. The Exhibitions Department with Barbara Stauffer as Director and the Department of Botany with Warren Wagner as Chair provided early support as the first institution to sign on to the project, and enabled us to go forward. Alice Tangerini worked behind the scenes to set things in motion and to coordinate numerous aspects of the exhibition and reception. And Katherine Lenard of FasterKitty, designed the signage accompanying the exhibition and gave the show its distinctive look.

Every Monday between 10am and 1pm during the exhibition's run, the Museum will be presenting The Illustrator Is In, featuring botanical artists demonstrating and teaching their techniques in the Losing Paradise? exhibition gallery. Over 7 million people visit the National Museum of Natural History annually and it is open from 10am to 5:30pm daily.

Information: www.mnh.si.edu/exhibits/losing_paradise
Blog: www.asbalosingparadise.blogspot.com
Contact: cjwoodin@me.com

© Wendy Hollender, Stenogyne kauaulaensis, colored pencil

 September 15 – November 24, 2010

Thirteenth Annual ASBA/HSNY International Juried Exhibition

The Horticultural Society of New York
148 W. 37^th St., 13^th Floor
New York, NY  10018

Opening Reception September 15, 2010


In April, the jury team met at the Horticultural Society of New York to choose artworks for inclusion in the Thirteenth Annual ASBA/HSNY International Juried Exhibition.  The team consisted of Francesca Anderson, Carol E. Hamilton, Dick Rauh, and Jessica Tcherepnine, all of whom have now served the last year of their three-year terms in this capacity.  We are very grateful for the time and expertise they have committed to our longest running ASBA exhibition.  It was a long day with 198 entries to consider, and from that field 41 works were chosen.  Each year the quality of entries seems to improve, and the jurying becomes more difficult.  Among the 41 artworks selected are those from many new artists, hailing from the US, Australia, Japan, and the UK.

Chosen for inclusion are:  Milly Acharya, Elizabeth Barta-Koraus, Rebecca Brown-Thompson, Rosemary Donnelly, Jean Emmons, Akiko Enokido, Julio Figueroa, Ingrid Finnan, Kathy Folino, Nancy Gehrig, John Gist, Cherie Ann Gossett, Asuka Hishiki, Ann Hoffenberg, Eliza Jewett, Martha Kemp, Heeyoung Kim, Esther Klahne, Karen Kluglein, Mindy Lighthipe, Patricia Luppino, Joan McGann, Julie Sims Messenger, Sherry Mitchell, Fujii Noriko, Derek Norman, Eika Okamoto, George Olson, Melinda Pahl, John Pastoriza-Pinol, Annie Patterson, Rose Pellicano, Lesley Randall, Lizzie Sanders, Judith Simon, Jeannetta van Raalte, Noriko Watanabe, Andrea Wilson, and Carol Woodin.

We have been fortunate enough again this year to have received donations for a sufficient percentage of publication costs to print a full color catalog. Barbara Macklowe, Meg Buck and Heidi Nitze lead the list of generous donors who will make this year's catalog possible.  The exhibition’s opening reception is scheduled for September 15, 2010.  Please watch the website and the next Journal for further details.

Contact: Carol Woodin at cjwoodin@me.com, or phone (866) 691-9080.



©Asuka Hishiki, Foeniculum vulgare, Fennel, watercolor on paper



 ©Ingrid Finnan, Papaver orientale, Poppy, oil on paper

Institutional Exhibits

Traveling Exhibit thru 2011

From Penstemons to Pines: Illustrating Rocky Mountain Natives

Organized through Denver Botanic Gardens’ Botanical Art and Illustration Program, this exhibition offers world-class art with an important ecological message. The biodiversity of the Rocky Mountain region is remarkable, ranging from alpine tundra to open grassland. In addition to celebrating the beauty and variety of plant life, this exhibit asks viewers to consider pressures that affect the health of plant populations, from stresses of drought to invasive species. Botanical illustration is a tool, contributing to a bank of knowledge about plant distribution, the robustness of a population, and adaptations over time.

Jurors include Lesley Elkan, Botanical Illustrator, Royal Botanic Gardens Trust, Sydney, Australia; Stephanie Schrader, Associate Curator of Drawings, Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Susan Spackman Panjabi, Senior Research Associate, Colorado State University, CO; and Ann Swan, Society of Botanical Artists, London, UK.

Thirty-two works on paper in graphite, pen and ink, colored pencil, and watercolor were selected from the large number of entries. Works were presented in white mats provided by the artist, and framed with walnut molding and Plexiglas provided by the DBG.

This exhibition is a celebration of 20 years of botanical art instruction and creativity at DBG. A full-color catalog presents information on media and materials for creating botanical art written by faculty, as well as a description of the growth of botanical art at DBG contributed by Angela Overy, program founder; a discussion of native plants and their importance in regional ecology by Dan Johnson, Curator of Native Plants and Assoc. Director of Horticulture, DBG; the artworks; species descriptions and artist bios.

Travelling next to St. George Art Museum in St. George, Utah, the exhibition will continue to wend around the Rocky Mountain West for another year.

Contact: For further information on securing this exhibition for your gallery, and for catalog purchase, please contact Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, Manager. Botanical Art & Illus. Programs, mervihj@botanicgardens.org

Cover art for the exhibit catalog of From Penstemons to Pines, Typha latifolia, ink on paper, ©Susan DiMarchi 2009

ASBA Chapter Exhibitions

July 9 - September 28, 2010

RARE, Imperiled Plants of Colorado

Business of Art Center, 515 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO

The Opening Reception for the fourth and last venue of this ground-breaking traveling regional exhibition is July 9 at the BAC. Artists, guest and patrons are invited to see the rare plants portrayed by RMSBA artists. The award-winning exhibition includes a catalog, activities for the public, and interaction with regional scientists at each stop.

Contact: PH: 303.423.2687, caroltill@mindspring.com

Physaria bellii G. Mulligan, Bell’s Twinpod, watercolor, ©Constance Sayas, 2008