From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.
John Kress presented a lecture, "Art meets Science: How artists and botanists capture the essence of Nature through color, composition, and classification," at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2024. In his talk, he described how artists and botanists have made unanticipated contributions to both our understanding and appreciation of the natural world for hundreds of years and how it continues today. His talk showed several artworks in the Department of Botany’s art collection, including Bryan Poole’s Heliconia caribaea, and Alice Tangerini’s gingers, including Globba sherwoodiana. Tangerini and her intern, Michelle-Marie Nelson were in attendance, and then following the lecture, Tangerini spoke to several of the attendees about her work at the museum.
In April 2024, Alice Tangerini spent time in Springfield, Massachusetts, at the Springfield Museums as an invited guest through Smithsonian Affiliates to present a lecture on “Botanical Illustration Then and Now” and to teach a class in botanical illustration. From April 4-7, Springfield Museums held a Festival of Flowers at their five museums all centered around a green quadrangle which featured sculptures of characters in the Dr. Seuss stories. Three of the museums displayed amazing flower arrangements in front of art pieces that were the inspiration for the designs. Other museums displayed floral arrangements in front of dioramas of animals and prehistoric life. One museum held activities for children and flower arranging for adults. Tangerini worked with Clarissa Leverich, the Museum School and Lecture Coordinator, to organize the class. Participants created layered graphite and watercolor flower portraits using prints and live flowers for subjects. It was a unique method for students to learn and each student came away with a finished piece.
On April 18, in celebration of Earth Day 2024, alumni of the National Museum of Natural History’s Peter Buck Postdoctoral Fellowship program presented short talks related to their own science journeys in the symposium, “Life on a Sustainable Planet: Exploring and Understanding Our Natural World”. The symposium offered an opportunity for the Smithsonian science community and the public to hear from science leaders of the future on how their work is contributing to exploring and understanding our natural world. Among the speakers, Richie Hodel presented, “Machine learning applications with digitized herbarium specimens reveal the hybrid origin of the cherry/plum genus,” and Manuela Dal Forno presented, “Preserving the past, exploring the future: Insights from historical lichen collections.” All of the talks were recorded and are available for viewing on the museum's YouTube channel.
Richie Hodel presents, “Machine learning applications with digitized herbarium specimens reveal the hybrid origin of the cherry/plum genus”:
Manuela Dal Forno presents, “Preserving the past, exploring the future: Insights from historical lichen collections”: