Has April Become the Unofficial Botanical Art Month in Richmond?

by Phyllis Laslett, Adult Education Coordinator, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

A Patrick O’Hara sculpture, now on display in the Lora Robins Library.

It seems that botanical art is everywhere this very welcome spring.  Right now at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden we have two exhibits that explore the ways that artists connect with the natural world:  in Ginter Gallery II in the Education and Library Complex, we are hosting an exhibit of work by botanical art certificate holders, students, and instructors  and  a nature journaling exhibit in the Lora M. Robins Library shows illustrated journals by Susie Kowalik, artist and journalist, and others.  Elsewhere in Richmond,  visit the Library of Virginia, where an exhibit on the newly published Flora of Virginia examines the role of plant collecting, recording, and illustrating in understanding the botanical ‘footprint’ of a place.  Two of the Garden’s Patrick O’Hara porcelains of native Virginia plants and insects are included.  On April 12, meet some of the artists whose work is included in American Botanical Paintings: Native Plants of the Mid-Atlantic.  Fourteen of the 43 artists included in the book are from Virginia, and five are certificate holders, students, or instructors in the Garden’s botanical illustration program.  Some of the artists will be in the Lora M. Robins Library from 1 – 3 pm , April 12 to sign copies of the book.  While blooms are bursting outside, you can enjoy them inside, too.