Sneak peek at my piece for BeinArt Gallery on Jan. 14th! It is a very Audubon inspired piece and my first piece using predominately watercolor instead of ink. I can’t wait to show you all the pieces I have been working on for January!
Excited to finally share the project I spent most of 2021 working on. Huge thanks to Storey Publishing and Mass Audubon, they put a ton of work into these books. Nature Smarts Workbooks for ages 4–6 and 7–9 are packed with colorfully illustrated games, puzzles, mazes, and on-the-page activities to get children excited to learn about nature. Out May 10th, available for preorder now. Mass Audubon ShopAmazon
It’s 2019, and we’ve got five brand new artists-in-residence at The Huntington! Dana Johnson, Nina Katchadourian, Robin Coste Lewis, Beatriz Santiago Muñoz and Rosten Woo will all be creating new work inspired by our collections, focused around the theme of “utopia.”
Nina Katchadourian has been searching for monsters in the Library—in medical texts, ancient maps, and rare books.
Her interest in the subject stems from the idea that “Monsters quite readily make people think, fearfully and somewhat negatively, of unknowns, or of the unknowable—things that, in the way they seem different from what we think we are and what we think we know, are ultimately threatening. However, I am more interested in monsters as a catalyst for the imagination, as a kind of prompt that may help us to think—hopefully—about what we still don’t know and what may not be as fixed as we think it is.”
PoetRobin Coste Lewis has been researching John James Audubon’s life and work, with a specific focus on the landscapes and homes he depicted in the backgrounds of his illustrations.
WriterDana Johnson has been researching the work of Delilah Beasley, a historian and news columnist who wrote about black pioneers in her book “Negro Trail-Blazers of California.”Johnson is also interested in the historic black community Allensworth, a California town founded in 1908.
Beatriz Santiago Muñoz has been exploring the plant cryopreservation lab at The Huntington, as she is interested in the implications of creating a "Noah’s Ark” of seeds. Working with botanical curators, her focus has been on the preservation of Magnolia splendensandportoricensus, two tree species that are endangered. Both are trees are native to Puerto Rico, where Muñoz is from.
Muñoz has also spent time filming in the themed, manicured gardens of The Huntington, a contrast to the native habitats of her homeland.
Rosten Woo has been researching the papers of Robert Hine, a scholar of the American West whose research focused on early utopian settlements in California. He has also been studying landscapes produced during an expedition led by John Russell Bartlett. Bartlett was hired to draw the border between Mexico and the U.S. after the Mexican American War in 1846.
Woo is interested in how these communities were formed and funded, and in exploring the relationships between “utopias” and the outside world
The Huntington is collaborating with Clockshop for the fourth year of our contemporary arts initiative /five. The project will culminate in an exhibition that opens in November 2019.
Images:
Nina Katchadourian looking at maps from “Theatrum Orbis Terrarum,” (“Theatre of the World”) by Abraham Ortelius, ca. 1606. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
John James #Audubon, detail from “Birds of America,” 1827–38. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Frontispiece of #DelilahBeasley’s “Negro Trail-Blazers of California,” 1919. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Beatriz Santiago Muñoz filming in The Huntington’s cryopreservation lab and gardens.
Rosten Woo looking at materials from the Robert Hine and John Rusell Bartlett papers.
From our Hog Island Audubon Partners - the chicks will soon fledge!
The three Hog Island osprey chicks stand at the edge of the nest, flap their wings, and peer into the distance. Now that Poole, Pan, and Pia are approaching 7 weeks of age they prepare for the next phase in their lives by exercising those feathered wings and readying to take their first flight. We can expect this leap by… (Click here to keep reading.)
Oh it feels so long ago now that Pia has taken to the skies! But just a few days ago, Mocha-SOCAL caught this snapshot of mom, Rachel, and Pia sharing a moment in the nest. We can almost hear Rachel whisper, “You can do it Kiddo!”
Young Ospreys make their first migration alone, instinctively knowing where to go without instruction from parents. - Keep reading here.
With two siblings fledged and flying the skies, there’s just one left to go! Explore.org fan and Osprey Cam viewer, Sabine, wrote this Ode to Pia for encouragement!
There’s a giant Puffin taking New York City's Times Square by storm today! Help get out the word about explore.org/puffin! If you’re wandering around Times Square today, stop for a pose and a snap! Help us collect the best Puffin Album yet using the #puffincam on Twitter! And as always, tune in to the Live Puffin Cams 24/7 at Explore.org.
They’ve Done It! The First Osprey Fledged for 2014
Exciting news from Hog Island! The first of the Hog Island Osprey chicks has fledged this morning, July 31st at 6:07am PDT. Little Poole, it seems, was the first to show his feathered siblings up but taking flight out over the Hog Island waters. Is that a look of shock we see in the nest?!
See the family on the Live Cam here. The other siblings should fledged any day now!
Nearly 60 percent of Connecticut is forest. But the state is also one of the most densely-populated in the country. And now, a new report says that provides unique opportunities for animals and people to co-exist.
Whether you live, work, or play in a city, increasingly, you’re likely to see some really cool birds.
“For example, peregrine falcon used to be wiped out from this area. And it used to be a huge deal to see a peregrine falcon,” said Patrick Comins, executive director for the Connecticut Audubon Society.
“I remember when I was growing up - it was almost this mythical beast. They’re the fastest animal on earth.,” Comins said. “Today, peregrine falcons are found nesting in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport.”
For these trends to continue, Comins said cities and the federal government need to step up.
His organization’s report urges Congress pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act, a $1.3 billion proposal, which has languished over the years.
If approved, it would inject millions into state wildlife efforts through fees that are already collected from energy suppliers drilling in federal waters.
In 2016, Connecticut received around $482,000 from the federal government for implementation of its state wildlife plan, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
