Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Artists hope to teach public about need for conservation
Nature has always inspired artists to make beautiful creations. But the artwork in “Where the Prairie Meets the River” is about more than pretty pictures. Conserving nature is the muse for the exhibit opening today at Winona State University’s Paul Watkins Gallery and the Winona Arts Center.
The artwork is done by Project Art for Nature artists, a group devoted to educating people through art about the need for conservation.
“People who like to paint nature or create artwork about nature would be devastated if it all turned into parking lots and highways or even just lawns,” Project Art for Nature co-founder Vera Ming Wong said.
The exhibit is being done in conjunction with the 21st Annual North American Prairie Conference at WSU.
Each PAN artist chooses one to three focal sites where natural communities of plants and animals still predominate, primarily within Minnesota and Wisconsin. Working alone or in small groups of two to four people called “pods,” each artist visits their sites regularly throughout the two- to three-year cycle, studying changes caused by weather, human intervention and restoration.
Their observations provide ideas, images and inspiration for artwork. The artists also visit and create artwork based on other artists’ sites, especially those of their “podmates.”
The 25 current PAN artists live in the Twin Cities, Mankato and western Wisconsin. A visiting alumna from California rejoins PAN for the Winona show, which focuses on artworks based on the plants, animals and land of prairie and river biomes.
 "Where the Prairie Meets the River" will open tonight with receptions at Winona State University's Paul Watkins Gallery and the Winona Arts Center. The exhibit is on display through Sept. 20, focusing on educating people through art about the need for conservation. (Photo by Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) |
Mary Coughlan is an art professor at WSU and has two pieces in the show, including “Indigo Suite,” a pencil drawing of various indigo seed pods. Coughlan teaches a class for science majors that introduces them to drawing.
“When you draw something, you learn how to see,” Coughlan said. “Before they draw something, they draw what they think it looks like.”
Wong lives in River Falls, Wis., and has several pieces in the show, including a watercolor she painted from inside her 1992 Toyota Corolla station wagon. She’d been driving through Trempealeau, Wis., last April and was struck by the beauty of the bluffs so she pulled over to paint.
“Usually I paint outside, but it was pretty blustery out,” Wong said.
Wong has a background in biology and art and is a natural science illustrator.
“The combination of looking at nature and combining it with art is perfectly natural for me,” Wong said. “It’s just what I do.”
Some of the artists come more from a fine arts or science background. One teaches theology.
The artists donate at least 20 percent of all sales proceeds to Scientific and Natural Areas Program of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources or the State Natural Areas Program of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
“Part of how we teach people about nature is to get them out into nature,” Wong said.
Contact Käri Knutson at (507) 453-3523.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Where the Prairie Meets the River,” artworks by Project Art for Nature artists
WHEN AND WHERE: Opening reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. today at Winona State University’s Paul Watkins Gallery, corner of King and Winona streets; 6:30 to 8 p.m. today at Winona Arts Center, 228 E. Fifth St.
EXHIBIT HOURS: Through Sept. 20; 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays at the Paul Watkins Gallery. The Paul Watkins Gallery will be closed Aug. 11-15; 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 3 to 6 p.m. Fridays at the Winona Arts Center
COST: Free
INFORMATION: www.projectartfornature.org
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