Oak Spring Garden Foundation:

Artist-in-Residence

I spent two weeks, June 2-16, 2019, at Oak Spring Garden in Upperville Virginia participating in an immersive residency titled Grafting Scientific Inquiry & Creative Practice: The Artist & the Botanical Archive. Myself and three other artists (poet, dancer, and textiles) explored women’s evolving roles at the intersection of plant art and science, with a focus on Maria Sibylla Merian. We had available to us the Oak Spring Garden Foundation Library’s collection of rare manuscripts. OSGF’s mission is to support new thinking and research on the history and future of plants, including the art and culture of plants, gardens and landscapes.

I spent time learning from the archives, the formal garden, their Bio-Cultural Conservation Farm, and researching the history of the land. I kept a sketchbook of walnut ink drawings as I observed the formal garden and created a mock up for a potential book I’m calling ‘The Future Garden’- a synthesis of ideas behind garden design with sustainability in our future climate to foster ecosystem wellness.