Interview with Denver Botanic Garden SBAI - RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallist 2017

The School of Botanical Art and Illustration (SBAI) at Denver Botanic Garden won an RHS Gold Medal for their exhibit of Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi at Altitude at the 2017 RHS London Botanical Art Show at the end of February

It's really difficult to win an RHS Gold Medal.

It's even more difficult if you are trying to win as a group - where every single artist has to achieve the GM standard. That's because Gold Medals are awarded on the basis of the weakest image in the portfolio and you can't afford to have any one artist not meet the mark.

That's by way of a preamble to explain why what the School of Botanical Illustration achieved was very significant.

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski and the lower altitude half of the Rocky Mountains exhibit

Each of the images had a very detailed label and explanation about the plant including:

• complete botanical name
• altitude it was collected at
• background to the name
• highlights of important botanical aspects
• explanation about its economic and cultural significance in the area

The images were then ordered (left to right) by elevation.
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​You can find/see:

• ​a dedicated blog about the exhibit online - Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude. The preamble in the blog post provides the rationale behind the exhibit and choice of plants.

• a Facebook album of the images contributed to the SBAI exhibit by the nine artist instructors at SBAI
• a Facebook album of photos of the RHS Show taken by Mervi 

Rocky Mountains: Plants and Fungi with Altitude Exhibit - five plates from higher altitude levels.

The exhibit was made up of nine drawings and paintings by the core of teachers who regularly provide botanical art and illustration instruction at the Denver Botanic Gardens School of Botanical Art and Illustration and two alumni They are: 

• Plate 1 Yucca harrimaniae (watercolour and graphite) by Constance Sayas
• Plate 2: Mirabilis multiflora (watercolour pencil) by Renee Jorgensen
• Plate 3: Castilleja integra (watercolour pencil and graphite) by Charlotte Ricker
• Plate 4: Ericameria nauseosa (pen and ink) by Libby Kyer
• Plate 5: Colorado mushrooms (pen and ink) by Marjorie Leggitt
• Plate 6: Lupinus argenteus (coloured pencil) by Susan Rubin
• Plate 7: Frasera speciosa (coloured pencil on Mylar )by Anne Reiser
• Plate 8: Aquilegia caerulea (egg tempera) by Laurence Pierson
• Plate 9:  ​Four tundra plants (ink, brush and quill) by Susan DiMarchi ​
• Plate 10: Cirsium scopulorum (graphite and coloured pencil) by Randall Raak

Exhibit Listing of Faculty Contributors

Mervi Hjelmroos-Koski, the Manager of SBAI brought the exhibition to London and talked to me about what's involved in creating a group exhibit.

The aim of the exhibition was to show the quality of the School and the calibre of its instructors. The best way to do that was to go to somewhere completely neutral and see what they thought - and where better than the RHS Botanical Art Show!

The feedback she got about the exhibit was firstly that it was very rare to have a Gold Medal winning exhibit by a group. (I know I've seen a number which have done well - but fallen short of a Gold Medal).

In terms of queries from the public, everybody was very interested in the variety of media used eg the frosted mylar used for coloured pencil which gives the impression of vellum.

What it takes to produce a good group exhibit

We talked about what Mervi found essential to getting the exhibit together at a standard which made it possible for them to win Gold.

The aspects related to the SBAI included:

• Everybody was involved - very much a team activity for the instructors. They were assisted by two alumni students.
• all the media taught in core classes at the school had to be well covered by individual exhibits. The school normally has two teachers for each medium - but they use different approaches and methods giving a more rounded view of the media eg. water based paints included watercolour and egg tempera.
• Exhibiting as a group reinforces the group dynamic and shows everybody else the scope and breadth of their talents and competences.

The exhibit itself was well planned and thought through from the very beginning

• The exhibit had to reflect the title. Hence it needed representative plants at each of the different recognised altitude/habitat levels. Mushrooms were included because they're very important to the ecosystem.
• The order of the exhibits needed to reflect the altitude levels. The far left of the exhibit was the lowest altitude level and the extreme right represented the Tundra/high altitude plants. Inbetween all other exhibits were ordered according to the level of elevation.
• the botanical aspects of each exhibit needed to be defined from the outset to ensure these are correct and well defined in the exhibit
• The standard size for each exhibit was determined as 70 x 22cm in order to allow the 10 exhibits space on the 6 metres maximum of wall space allowed. The goal was to mat and frame generously so it looks like a proper exhibit - but also looked like the habitat it represented.
• The labelling focused on the educational aspects - and explaining the plant in a well rounded way eg by including whether native Indians used the plant and how it was used in the past

In terms of project management:

• Commitment from all contributors is required up front
• There needed to be an explicit timeline relating to when works were required
• The content and look for the signage was very important for an institution which prided itself on the quality of its education.

In summary, I thought the exhibit was excellent. It addressed all the issues which all good exhibits need to consider and resolve. It was also well thought through, well planned and well executed. (More on the tips from this exhibition in my upcoming Tips post)

To my mind it's also one of the most brilliant marketing exercises that I've ever seen a botanical art school pursue. This one is going to set a benchmark for other stalwarts of the botanical art education field.

It's just a pity there's only one Gold Medal on its way to Denver later this year!

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About the School of Botanical Art and Illustration

The SBAI has a very strong online presence. I've always highly rated it as being one of the more "switched on to online" organisations delivering botanical art education. I've been following them for YEARS!

These are the links to their 

• main webpage on the Denver Botanic Gardens website
• blog - which has very regular blog posts - well worth following even if you can't ever get to Denver.
• Facebook Page - always worth keeping an eye on. ​The SBA2016 Chronicles Page (Facebook Albums) is absolutely fascinating and it's well worthwhile taking a look.

​You can find details of Educational Courses, Activities and Opportunities on offer below:

• Application for Diploma in Botanical Illustration
• Scholarship Program
• Illustrator/Artist in Residence Program description

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​More about the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017

Past blog posts include:

• Video and review of RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017
  
• Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medallists 2017 - from Asia and Australia
• RHS London Botanical Art Show 2017 - Medal Winners
• Best Exhibit and Best Painting in RHS Botanical Art 2017
• Artists' Exhibits in the RHS Botanical Art Show 2017
• RHS Botanical Art 2017 - Selected Artists
• Who's exhibiting at RHS Botanical Art (London) 2017?
• RHS Botanical Art Shows in 2017 - the FAQS