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Aurea Vista to Close, ArtPlantae Folds Retail Location

Posted in ArtPlantae Books, botanical art books, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Reference, Special Announcements, Special Events on October 14, 2013|

The Aurea Vista marketplace in downtown Riverside has announced it will close by the end of the year. The retail areas of the historic Aurea Vista hotel will become a nightclub.

ArtPlantae’s retail section dedicated to plant-based education and botanical art will merge with its retail space on Aurea Vista’s ground floor. The teacher trunk show will continue through October 31 as planned. Pick up an in-store coupon at each section to save $5 on purchases of $20 or more. Coupon valid only for ArtPlantae merchandise and must be presented at the register during checkout. Use the coupon on a wide selection of books under $10 or on the holiday gift ideas now available at the store.

Thank you to all who visited this unique boutique marketplace and to all who supported ArtPlantae during its one-year tenure at Aurea Vista.

You can continue to buy resources from ArtPlantae by shopping online at ArtPlantae Books or by visiting ArtPlantae at educational events. Proceeds support this site and help to cover the cost of materials for outreach activities.

Aurea Vista is located at 3498 University Avenue, on the corner of Lemon Street and University Avenue. Free parking is in the parking lot with the ballet mural. Street parking is free after 5 PM on weekdays and is free all day on weekends.

Store Hours:

Get directions

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Now Available: American Botanical Paintings

Posted in botanical art, botanical art books, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements on October 11, 2013|

By Bonnie Driggers

Botanical Artists for Education & The Environment is happy to announce the completion of our book, American Botanical Paintings: Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic, which was more than three years in the making. It contains 60 reproductions of original paintings and drawings of plants and 40 original paintings of butterflies, moths, and other pollinators. For each plant, we briefly describe the plants and their habitats, provide relevant information about the plant families, and relate ways in which Native Americans or early settlers used the plants. For plants unsuitable for home gardens, we mention their environmental importance, such as food and habitat for birds and animals.

Tuliptree by Marsha Ogden. Image courtesy Starbooks.

Dr. Shirley Sherwood OBE, Botanical art collector

This is a delightfully illustrated book, beautifully designed and with lots of variety in the choice of plant subjects. I admired the standard of painting and the fresh, appealing studies, which will be attractive to both naturalists and gardeners.

Holly Shimizu, Executive Director, U.S. Botanic Garden
The U.S. Botanic Garden was thrilled to be a part of this book as it embodies what we know to be vital — our world is better and richer with fine botanical art, and the plants in our backyards, in our woods, and along the roadsides are amazing!

Peggy Cornett, Curator of Plants at Monticello
Like the exquisitely illustrated floras from past centuries, this volume carries on a rich tradition of detailed and deftly created botanical artistry. Each painting portrays the abundance and diverse beauty of the natural world around us, from early spring ephemerals to the towering monarchs of our deciduous forests.

Derek Norman, President, American Society of Botanical Artists
Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic – a beautiful book on botanical art that speaks to the mind, the heart, and the environment.

Winged Sumac by Rose Pellicano. Image courtesy Starbooks.

Botanical Artists for Education & the Environment (BAEE) created American Botanical Paintings: Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic for lovers of art and plants. We hope to foster a particular appreciation not only for the beauty of native plants and their artistic representations but also for their importance to the environment and to encourage, where practical, the use of native plants in home gardens.

Publication costs come from donations. BAEE will donate proceeds from the sale of the book to nonprofit organizations supporting native plant education, conservation, and horticulture.

American Botanical Paintings: Native Plants of the Mid Atlantic is now available to order from Starbooks ($39.95) with free shipping within the United States through December 31, 2013.

The book is expected to ship by February 1, 2014. An exhibition of the paintings will open on February 15, 2014, at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC.

Bonnie S. Driggers, President, BAEE
www.baeecorp.org
baee.info@gmail.com

Also Available at Starbooks

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ArtPlantae to Participate in Garden Festival at UC Riverside

Posted in botanical art, botanical art books, Education, gardening, general botany, Learning Opportunities, nature, Special Announcements, Special Events on October 1, 2013|

UCR Botanic Gardens
Celebrates 50 Years!
http://gardens.ucr.edu

The University of California Riverside Botanic Garden (UCRBG) is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a family garden festival. Demonstrations, lectures, a marketplace, and children’s activities are planned for this special event. The Garden is excited to announce the UCRBG Children’s Fund. Visit the festival to learn more about this new fund and how the Garden will begin its next 50 years as a teaching and educational facility promoting environmental sustainability.

Visit ArtPlantae in the garden as it kicks off a Teacher Trunk Show featuring children’s books about plants, instructional books about botanical art and exhibition catalogs showcasing the best of contemporary botanical art.

Teachers, what kind of resources about plants, nature and art do you want for your classroom? Stop by and let me know!

The UCR Botanic Gardens 50th Anniversary Festival is free and open to the public. Parking, $5. Hours: 10 AM – 4 PM.

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Learn All About Roses in Weekly Garden Series

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Special Events on September 25, 2013|

Learn about the world of roses tomorrow, September 26th, at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

Dani Hahn, one of the region’s finest rose growers, will examine the evolution of cultivated roses with insights on modern practices and varieties, as well as what’s to come for rose lovers.

Since 1998, Dani and her husband Bill have operated Rose Story Farm in Carpinteria, CA where they produce more than 120 varieties of fragrant, romantic cut roses – an assortment of which will be on view in class. Rose Story Farm has been featured in several magazines, including Martha Stewart Living, Oprah Winfrey’s O Magazine, and Victoria magazine.

To register for The World of Roses: Past, Present and Future with Dani Hahn, contact Jill Berry or call (626) 821-4623. Cost: $20, pay at the door.

This class is part of the series, Thursday Garden Talks with Lili Singer.
View all classes in this series

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Botanical Art at The Kampong in Coconut Grove, Florida

Posted in botanical art, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Special Announcements, Special Events on September 18, 2013|

Kick-off the new year with a tropical adventure!

Here is what’s new on the Classes Near You pages for Florida and Massachusetts.

Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens at The Kampong
Certificate Program in Botanical Art and Illustration
http://www.wellesley.edu/wcbg/wcbg_friends

Botanical Art at The Kampong with Sarah Roche
Wellesley College Botanic Garden in collaboration with
The Kampong, National Tropical Botanical Garden
January 20-24, 2014
9:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Cost: WCBG Friends or Kampong Members, $495; Non-members $595

Fee includes class instruction, two half-day visits to local botanical gardens, and a Thursday evening lecture by Sarah Roche.

Travel, accommodations, food and other expenses are not included. Dormitory accommodations at The Kampong may be arranged on a first-come basis. For those arriving on Sunday, January 19, 2014, a get-acquainted gathering will be arranged. Contact the WCBG Friends office for more information.

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Jennifer Landin’s Research Unveils Student Indifference Toward Plants

Posted in botanical art, drawing, Education, general botany, Learning Opportunities, Special Articles & Interviews, Special Events, teaching and learning on September 16, 2013|

Jennifer, twice in your dissertation you bring attention to students’ indifference towards plants. In one instance you observe that one of the two exercises in which student performance was the lowest, was an exercise about drawing plants. You share a student’s comment about plants being “kind of dull to draw” (Landin, 2011). You also share that during the plant lab, students did not work in their Lab Workbooks and paid little attention to the teaching assistant. You also mention that some students viewed the plant lab as not being very important. Do you have any thoughts or hunches about what might be contributing to student indifference towards plants?

Jennifer:

That is an excellent question.

I have three ideas (just opinions really): 1) a majority of students in the biology program are planning on health careers so they tend to be very focused on humans; 2) a general human-centric focus of society; 3) a lack of knowledge about plants.

I think all three conditions could be addressed by a better understanding of plant biology. It’s interesting that biology classes about a hundred years ago were more equally focused on plants and animals. Now though, even with the increase in understanding of cell biology (which is so similar between plants and animals), we teach mostly about animals. If you consider the decrease in agricultural pursuits, society has really lost a ton of awareness about plants.

It’s too bad because plants are incredibly fascinating in defense mechanisms, competitive behaviors and symbiotic relationships. There’s so much ACTION in plants, but it’s mostly chemical rather than physical.

I would strongly encourage teachers to use more plants in their lessons – they’re easy to grow in a classroom, students can have a sense of “ownership” when they care for a plant, and there are so many great topics to cover using plants (history of agriculture & society, medicine, biological competition, experimental design, where food comes from, etc.).

Readers, have you encountered student indifference towards plants in your own classroom?

Share your stories

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Scientific Symposium and Medicinal Botany Walk

Posted in botany, Education, general botany, History, Learning Opportunities, Reference, Special Announcements, Special Events on September 12, 2013|

Click for speaker information

Bridging the Gap Between Alternative and Conventional Medicine
Lloyd Library and Museum
Cincinnati, OH
October 12, 2013

The Lloyd Library and Museum invites you to attend Bridging the Gap between Alternative and Conventional Medicine, its first major scientific symposium. Speakers and participants will explore the complicated issue of using herbal and other natural remedies in a society that has long relied on conventional medical practices.

Alternative, sometimes referred to as Traditional, medicine tends to approach health from an entirely different perspective, looking to prevent rather than having to cure. However, the two medical practices can and do work together, and there is a way to integrate the two methods to obtain optimum health.

The Lloyd is bringing to Cincinnati some of the biggest advocates for herbal and natural medicine, including:

Mark Blumenthal, Founder and Executive Director of the American Botanical Council
Roy Upton, Executive Director of the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia ®
Sheila Kingsbury, professor of Medical Botany at Bastyr University
Lisa Gallagher, local naturopathic physician from the Alliance Institue for Integrative Medicine (Cincinnati)

Jan Scaglione, Clinical Toxicologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Cincinnati Drug and Poison Control Center, will serve as moderator in an open afternoon session, facilitating interaction between the speakers and audience. Attendees can expect to come away with a better understanding of the alternative therapies available and how to integrate natural medicines with their routine medical care to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

The symposium begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 3:00 PM. Registration for the event is $50 and includes light continental breakfast and afternoon snacks. Registration deadline is October 1, 2013.

On October 13, 2013, a Lloyd representative along with local herbalist/botanist, Abby Artemisia, will lead a medicinal botany hike at the Curtis Gates Lloyd Wildlife Management Area (CGLWMA) in Crittenden, Kentucky. The walk begins at 10:30 AM at the CGLWMA and ends at 12:30 PM. The cost for this educational and fun event is $25.00. Registration deadline is October 1, 2013.

Space is limited for both dates so please register soon if you would like to attend. Combined registration for both events is $65.00. Details and a registration form can be found on the Lloyd Library and Museum website.

View Details, Get Registration Form

About the Lloyd Library and Museum
The Lloyd Library and Museum, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization, is a local and regional cultural treasure, which began in the 19th century as a research library for Lloyd Brothers Pharmacists, Inc., one of the leading pharmaceutical companies of the period. Our mission is to collect and maintain a library of botanical, medical, pharmaceutical, and scientific books and periodicals, and works of allied sciences that serve the scientific research community, as well as constituents of the general public, through library services and programming that bring science, art, and history to life. It is open Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM, and on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month from 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM.