Four botanical artists selected for residency at Oak Spring Garden

Last August I wrote about the call for entries for the inaugural Botanical Artists in Residence Program (BAiR) offered by the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (see Call for Entries: Botanical Artists in Residence Program at the Oak Spring Foundation).

On Friday the Oak Spring Foundation announced that not one but FOUR botanical artists had been selected for their inaugural 2020 Botanical Artists in Residence (BAiR) program.

The botanical artists are:

• Keiko Nibu Tarver (Japan/USA)
• John Pastoriza-Piñol (Australia)
• Maria Alice de Rezende (Brazil)
• Fátima Zagonel (Brazil)

They were chosen through a competitive selection process in partnership with the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Below there's a brief bio of each of them and then an explanation of what happens during their residencies.

Four botanical artists in residence

Interestingly all but Keiko Nibu Tarver already appear in my listings of leading botanical artists on this website.  (I plead the fact, as indicated, that the USA listing is still a work in progress and incomplete). 

Links in their names go to either their websites or another web page about their work. 

John Pastoriza-Piñol (Australia)

• contemporary botanical artist based in Melbourne, Australia
• completed his docturmiento in Botany at University of Vigo, Galicia, in Spain
• Awards: Won an RHS Gold Medal (2005); received the ASBA Dianne Bouchier Award for Excellence in Botanical Art (2013) and a grant from The Australia Council for the Arts (2016) which enabled him to spend a 3 month residency in New York.
• Collections: his work is held in numerous public and private collections around the world and is included in several major Florilgium projects including the Highgrove and Transylvanian Florilegia.
• Currently represented by Scott Livesey Galleries, Australia. 
• Teaching: teaches intermediate/advanced classes at the Geelong Botanic Gardens and workshops around the world
  

Magnolia x soulangeana by John Pastoriza-Piñol

Maria Alice de Rezende (Brazil)

• currently based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Graduated from the National School of Fine Arts at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
• Works as an art teacher as well as a botanical illustrator on projects with researchers at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden.  Her current project is involves illustrating the biodiversity of the South Atlantic Islands.
• Her main creative practice is her  personal work of illustration of native species of Brazilian flora.
• Awards: Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme Artist Scholar (2004) at the Royal Botanic Gardens in 2004
• Exhibitions: her work has been exhibited in Japan, Brazil, the UK, and the US - including the 16th International Exhibition at the Hunt Institute in 2019.  

Monstera deliciosa by Maria Alice de Rezende

Keiko Nibu Tarver (Japan/USA)

• born in Japan and currently based in Philadelphia, PA.
• Focuses on plants native to the United States and Japan, especially plants of the Aesculus genus (which includes buckeye, horse chestnut, and lychee.)  (see the story behind her Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum
• Awards:  Best Student Painting at the Friends Hospital Grounds: A Living Legacy exhibition (2012).
• Memberships: She is a member and Board Director of both the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators. ​

Yoshino Cherry by Keiko Nibu Tarver

Fátima Zagonel (Brazil)

• worked as a graphic designer for about 20 years before becoming a botanical illustrator.
• focuses on scientific illustrations of native Brazilian plants, but without forgetting commercial artwork.
• Awards: won the Margaret Mee Foundation Fellowship for Artists (1999) and was instructed by Christabel King at the Royal Botanic Gardens for six months.
• Achievements: She is the Founder Associate  of the Botanical Illustration Center of Paraná – CIBP
• Teaching: She is a botanical illustration teacher for beginners
• Organisations: She is a member of the National Union of Scientific Brazilian Illustrators and an associate of ASBA – American Society of Botanical Artists.
• Collections: Her artwork is in several important collections of botanical art in the UK, Brazil, and the US.  ​​

Pleiochiton ebracteatum by Fátima Zagonel

The Residency

Each artist selected for the OSGF Botanical Artist in Residence program will:

• receive a $1,500 individual grant
• stay at Oak Spring for a two to four-week residency during April and May 2020
• spend their days working on their botanical art, either using material from the formal garden at Oak Spring or from the broader 700-acre Oak Spring landscape.
• be able to draw inspiration from the publications and other material available in the Oak Spring Garden Library - which contains 19,000 pieces items which include rare botanical books and exemplary examples of botanical art. 

At the end of the residency, each artist will donate one completed piece of botanical art to The Oak Spring Florilegium.

Applications for a Residency in 2021

Applications for more opportunities for a botanical artist or artists to take up a residency as part of the for the 2021 BAiR program will

• open March 30, 2020 with a
• deadline for applications of August 15, 2020.  

If you are interested and thinking about applying for next year, you are encouraged to visit https://www.osgf.org/artists, and read the Residency Handbook to learn more about the program.   For more information on the award and eligibility, read last year's flier.

I'll be highlighting this residency again when the formal call for entries for 2021 is published.


REFERENCE: OSGF Announces 2020 Botanical Artists in Residence