Today I want to follow-up last week’s article about art and botany needing each other, with an example of how the disciplines of art and botany can work together to change the way people experience a local park.
When artist and art director, Ken Chaya, was asked to make a map about the trees and landscapes of Central Park, little did he know he was about to become a botanist, an experienced hiker, and become intimately familiar with every square foot of New York’s famous park.
Over a two-year period, Chaya learned how to identify trees, created symbols for every major tree species, walked more than 500 miles, and represented 19,630 trees on a single sheet of paper to create the most accurate and detailed map ever published about Central Park.
Chaya tells his story at CentralParkNature and provides a behind-the-scenes look at how he created Central Park Entire, The Definitive Illustrated Map.
In six short documentary-style videos, Chaya explains how he learned to identify 172 species of trees, how he mapped every path in the park, and what he learned while creating the illustrations for his map.
Here is a great example of art and botany in action!
Chaya’s map is available as a wall poster ($35) and as a folded map ($12.95). Quantity discounts are available.
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