Chicago Botanic Garden

for immediate release

Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here
and Around the World

Exhibition comes to the Chicago Botanic Garden
January 16 through April 4, 2010

 

Media Only:
Julie McCaffrey
(847) 835-8213, direct
jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (November 18, 2009)—Forty-four botanical illustrations of endangered plants from North America and around the world will be on display in the Regenstein Center at the Chicago Botanic Garden from January 16 through April 4, 2010. The traveling exhibition, "Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World," seeks to draw attention to plants that are in danger of disappearing from the planet. Curated by the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) and developed in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and the Center for Plant Conservation, the exhibition will next appear at the New York Botanical Garden.

Visitors can learn fascinating stories about the plants such as the Wollemi pine, thought to be extinct for two million years but found in a remote Australian canyon, and a stunning violet slipper orchid (Phragmipedium kovachii), discovered in 2002 in the Peruvian rainforest. American rarities include the Midwestern lakeside daisy (Hymenoxis herbacea), with only two natural colonies remaining in the U.S.; the Everglades “ghost orchid” (Polyrrhiza lindenii); a rare white poppy (Arctomecon humilis) from the Mojave Desert in Utah; and California’s coastal Santa Cruz cypress (Cupressa abramsiana), all listed as federally endangered or threatened.

The exhibition and accompanying book are the result of a three-year project undertaken by artists from the United States and around the world, all members of the ASBA. Each artwork in the book is accompanied by the story behind the plant’s endangerment and how the artist went about finding and capturing it artistically. Peter H. Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden, wrote the introduction, and Sir Peter Crane, dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, contributed an essay on botanical art. Essays are also featured by the president of the Center for Plant Conservation, Kathryn Kennedy; the head of the Plant Conservation Unit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Gary Krupnick; and the dean and vice president for Science, New York Botanical Garden, James Miller. Artists with works in the show are from the United States, Australia, Brazil, Israel, South Korea, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Some of the world’s most well-known botanical artists are included, as are some relative newcomers to the field.

For those who want to learn more about drawing and painting native species, the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden offers a four-week class, Rare and Endangered Species, with Derek Norman of the Midwest Center for Botanical Documentation. On four Mondays from February 1 through 22 (6 to 9 p.m.), this class will study works in the exhibition with close analytical observation and visual deduction of original work to help students better define and refine their own technique. Students will then use their medium of choice to apply what they learned. This class serves as an introduction to how to procure plants when drawing and painting native species while adhering to the ASBA Code of Ethics for Botanical Artists Working in the Field. Cost is $187. Chicago Botanic Garden members pay $149. To register, call (847) 835-8261 or visit www.chicagobotanic.org/school.

Admission to the Chicago Botanic Garden and the exhibition is free; select event fees apply. Parking is
$20 per car; free for Garden members. For more information on the exhibition, click here or call (847) 835-5440.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 24 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $20 per car; free for Garden members. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. A program of the Chicago Botanic Garden, Windy City Harvest is an organic vegetable and plant production enterprise that provides instruction in sustainable horticulture and urban agriculture to residents of Chicago’s North Lawndale and West Side neighborhoods.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). The Chicago Botanic Garden is also host to Botanic Gardens Conservation International-U.S., and a member of the Center for Plant Conservation. In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.