Education providers listed in the Classes Near You section on the ArtPlantae blog are for the benefit of members of our creative community. Their inclusion is not an endorsement. As with anything, please investigate your choices thoroughly. Then get outside and be inspired!
ART+BIO Collaborative
www.artbiocollaborative.com
The ART+BIO Collaborative in Cambridge, MA fosters the integration of science, nature, and art through novel collaborations, research, and education. They design innovative art+science curriculum and turn public spaces into interactive learning environments.
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ISLAND LIFE: Tropical Field Studies of Art+Nature in Puerto Rico
Embark on an artistic exploration of the diverse tropical wildlife of Puerto Rico, including rainforest, mountain, beach and coastal environments.
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DESERT LIFE: Field Studies of Art+Nature in the Southwest
Discover the unique beauty of the desert in this one-of-a-kind artistic journey through white sand dunes, black lava rock, desert caves, and mountain landscapes of West Texas and New Mexico.
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Combining Comparative Anatomy & the Visual Arts:
A Professional Development Workshop for Educators
Location: Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge MA, 02138
This ART+BIO Collaborative workshop introduces educators to creatively combining visual art and life sciences to engage students in creative art-making and deeper learning of advanced scientific concepts. Working from museum collections and exhibits at the Harvard Art Museums and Harvard Museum of Natural History, participants will use biological illustration to learn about comparative anatomy and evolution. Participants will design creative art+science collaborations for their own classrooms and participate in collaborative art-making. This workshop is ideal for 6th-12th grade Art and Science teachers, however, all grade levels and informal educators welcome, along with any artists, naturalists or students interested in creative, interdisciplinary teaching and learning approaches. No previous drawing or science experience necessary. This workshop is part of the 2015 Cambridge Science Festival. Pre-Registration required. Participants will earn 10 Professional Development points.
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Erica Beade, Scientific Illustrator
www.observationaldrawing.com
Erica Beade is a scientific illustrator specializing in science, health and nature subjects and has taught observational drawing for many years, with a particular focus on the natural world. She offers independent workshops and also more formal classes through the Harvard Museum of Natural History (and occasionally other venues). She also offers private classes and workshops for individuals and groups. Information about upcoming classes is posted on her teaching website, Observational Drawing.
View portfolios of Erica’s work at www.mbcgraphics.com, Science-Art.com, and www.cafepress.com/mbcgraphics.
During summer Erica teaches outdoor sketching workshops in Cambridge.
She invites you to join her at historic Mount Auburn Cemetery.
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Upcoming Outdoor Sketching Workshops
- Landscape Sketching: Friday, July 20
- Sketching Trees: Friday, August 10
- Capturing Textures with Pencil: Thursday, August 23
- Botanical Sketching: Thursday, September 6
- Sketching with Colored Pencils: Thursday, September 20
Below is a list of topics, dates and times for July, August and September. Sign up is just via an email (or a Facebook message) to me – or feel free to send any questions. We’ll be meeting at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge from 9:00am to 11:00am. Workshops are $40 each.
If you would like to receive regular email updates about upcoming workshops and classes, just let me know and I will add you to my mailing list.
If you have any thoughts about workshops you would like to see offered, or any other questions at all, please just let me know!
INDEPENDENTLY OFFERED WORKSHOPS
To register, please contact Erica via email.
To receive information about future workshops, please join Erica’s email list at ObservationalDrawing.com.
Follow Observational Drawing on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/observationaldrawing.
Helen Byers
www.helenbyers.com
Helen Byers is an artist and illustrator who is active in several genres and mediums. Her professional background includes the college-level teaching of fine art and literature, book illustration, art journalism, and a career as a writer and editor in educational publishing.
Since 2005, Helen has taught annually at Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center. She teaches courses in botanical drawing, botanical painting, and field-sketching of high-desert flora and fauna. Since 2012, Helen has also been teaching at Tower Hill Botanic Garden (MA), the Concord Center for the Visual Arts (MA), Fruitlands Museums (MA) and Tin Mountain Conservation Center (NH).
Helen’s botanical work has been exhibited at juried and invitational shows in Washington, Massachusetts, and Florida. Her natural history illustration credits include Coming to Terms with Archaeology & Paleontology: A Dictionary of Artifacts and Old Bones (The Museums at Ghost Ranch: Abiquiu, NM, 2013). Helen is a member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, the New England Society of Botanical Artists, the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists, and Concord Center for the Visual Arts.
Friends of Wellesley College Botanic Gardens Certificate Program in Botanical Art and Illustration
http://www.wellesley.edu/wcbgfriends
Our program offers several weekly and one- to three-day classes on botanical art with lead instructor and Education Director Sarah Roche as well as Carrie Megan, Carol Ann Morley, Esther Klahne, and many other visiting instructors from near and far. The courses offered through this program cover all aspects of botanical art.
Learn more about Wellesley’s certificate program
View current Programs, Courses, & Travel schedule
Harvard Museum of Natural History
www.hmnh.harvard.edu
Serves as the public face of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, the Harvard University Herbaria and the Mineralogical and Geological Museum. Founded in 1998, this museum receives over 190,000 visitors each year.
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
massart.edu
Professor Saúl Nava teaches the life sciences and biology at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt). He also teaches summer programs about art and biology. One program is called Field BIO+ART: Collaborative R.N.A. (Research in Nature and Art). The other program is about natural history and biological art and is an introduction to visualizing plants, animals and natural forms.
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Natural History and Biological Art
Check back for new dates
This course provides an introduction to visualizing and exploring the diversity of wildlife, habitats, and biological forms of plants and animals through art and direct observation in the field. Through careful examination, illustration, microscopy, and photography, participants will study and visualize anatomical, behavioral, and ecological similarities and differences between species. Participants will use various media but will focus on classical observation and drawing/painting techniques in the field. This course involves travel to various locales, field sites and The Harvard Museum of Natural History. View the blog from the 2012 course at http://naturalhistorybiologicalillustration.blogspot.com.
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New England Society of Botanical Artists
http://www.nesbaartists.blogspot.com
The New England Society of Botanical Artists works to promote public appreciation of the art and science of botanical art and illustration in New England. It is a chapter of the American Society of Botanical Artists.
New England Wild Flower Society
www.newenglandwild.org
Conserving and promoting New England’s native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes. Educators and parents may be especially interested in the Society’s Go Botany program.
Sarah Roche
www.sarahrochebotanicalart.com
Sarah teaches botanical drawing and painting at the Wellesley College Botanic Garden, the South Shore Art Center, and the Copley Society. She is the director of the botanical art and illustration program at Wellesley and the current Education Co-chair of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Visit Sarah’s website for current class information.
The Trustees of Reservations
www.thetrustees.org
The Trustees preserve properties of scenic, historic and ecological value in Massachusetts and maintain almost 25,000 acres for public use and enjoyment. A botanical drawing class and a nature poetry class begin this week. What a wonderful way to blend botany, botanical art, and poetry.
Carol Woodin
www.carolwoodin.com
A freelance artist for over 20 years, Carol creates vibrant botanical paintings on vellum. Her work is in public collections and in the private collections of Dr. Shirley Sherwood and Alisa and Isaac M. Sutton. Carol is represented by Susan Frei Nathan Fine Works on Paper, LLC.
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