May 22-August 22, 2010
The N.C. Arboretum Hosts a Visual Celebration of Rural Life by Artist Margaret Scanlan

The North Carolina Arboretum will feature a new exhibit on rural life beginning May 22 – a perfect complement to the current Tim Barnwell exhibit: On Earth’s Furrowed Brow: The Appalachian Farm in Photographs.

Balance and Beauty: A Visual Celebration of Rural Life, is an exhibit that features work by Tennessee artist Margaret Scanlan, who has been painting color fields for more than 35 years.

“I return to them over and over, aiming for perfect balance and images in which you can become lost,” Scanlan says. Her paintings are rich and strong in color and technique, yet provide a place for calm contemplation.

Scanlan’s focus on the quiet beauty of the pastoral rural landscape is just one reason why the Arboretum chose to host the exhibit. The North Carolina Arboretum is a natural treasure that cultivates connections between people and plants, and Scanlan’s work entices viewers to have a personal relationship to the rural scenes. Personal connections with nature resonate throughout the Arboretum’s exhibits, programs, and research.

Scanlan holds a bachelor’s of arts degree from Webster University and a graduate degree from the University of Tennessee. She has won numerous awards over her career and has exhibited her work both nationally and internationally. A signature member of the American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, and the Watercolor USA Honor Society, Scanlan has work in numerous private and corporate collections.

Visitors to the Baker Exhibit Center Greenhouse will have a chance to learn about color in a unique living exhibit planned in conjunction with Balance and Beauty. Living Color: A Color Study Illustrated with Plants will feature a color wheel created out of flowering plants and provide opportunities to study color theory through plant combination vignettes. Color studies continue immediately outside the exhibit greenhouse in the newly planted Baker Exhibit Center landscape featuring container gardens, the Green Gardener’s shed and fabric sculptures by artists Jason Brown and Elizabeth Scofield.

“Balance and Beauty” will be on view at the Baker Exhibit Center through August 22. The exhibit is free with the parking fee of $8 per personal vehicle. Parking is always free for members.

May 2010 - February 2011
Outdoor Art Exhibit: Infolrescence
Inflorescence is an exhibit (May 2010 through February 2011) that features a variety of botanical forms created from synthetic nylon fabric. Elements include 14-feet-tall sprout-like striped plants, giant blades of nylon grass, large-scale synthetic flowers, and odd plant-like shapes inspired by nature.

The exhibit surrounds the viewer and creates an experience similar to walking through a field of tall plants. The pieces combine the order and geometry of a flower garden with the organic and shifting nature of a field, especially when the elements are moving with air currents.

The exhibit is designed to be kinetic and activated by wind. The title, Inflorescence, is derived from the structure and patterns of plant organisms and growth cycles. Installation sites include:

Brown and Scofield have collaborated for 10 years to create interventionist social art through nomadic sculptural forms and lightweight tensile structures. Brown and Scofield’s collaborative artwork has been exhibited at galleries and museums throughout the United States including the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

 

For more information, see our NC Arboretum Guide.