Science illustration students exhibit work

Posted on May 08, 2011 Recommend Twitter

If you’ve ever wondered about the artwork that illustrates science textbooks, field guides, and interpretive signs in parks and nature preserves, you have the opportunity to learn about it at an exhibit in Pacific Grove.

Illustrating Nature, the second annual exhibit of work by students in the CSU Monterey Bay Science Illustration Program, will be on display at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History through June 4. The museum is located at 165 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove.

The 63 artworks and sketchbooks in the exhibit depict everything from Costa Rican poison dart frogs and a gravel ghost wildflower to Neanderthal jewelry production in great detail using media including pen and ink, scratchboard, colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, acrylic and digital media.

It’s only one example of the partnership between CSU Monterey Bay and the museum.

“The museum has thoroughly benefited from partnering with CSUMB,” said museum director Lori Mannel. “We work with the university’s Serving Learning Institute, have interns working with us and support student capstone projects. Science Illustration graduates also teach the museum’s Drawing from the Collection classes open to the public.”

In 2009, the Science Illustration program relocated from UC Santa Cruz Extension to CSUMB. One of the most prestigious programs of its kind in the nation, it prepares students who are sought after by scientific institutions and publications around the world. Graduates are working at the Smithsonian Institution; New York’s American Museum of Natural History; the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History; the Monterey Bay Aquarium; and National Geographic, Scientific American and Nature magazines.

“We’re excited to continue a tradition of partnership with a local natural history museum,” said Ann Caudle, program director. “After a rewarding 20-year relationship with the museum in Santa Cruz, we are happy to be collaborating with the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History.”

Three workshops will be held during the run of the exhibit:

May 14, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. – Demonstration of illustration techniques by students whose work is featured in the exhibit. Free

May 15, 1-4 p.m. – Drawing Natural Objects on Toned Paper, for ages 15 and over, instructor Erin Hunter. $25

May 29, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Natural Science Illustration, for ages 10 to 14, instructor Christine Elder. $55

Museum hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is free. More information about the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History is available here. To learn more about the science illustration program at CSUMB, click here.

Frogs by Sean Edgerton

RELATED STORY: Jenny Keller, an instructor in the Science Illustration program, has contributed a chapter and the cover illustration to “Field Notes on Science and Nature,” to be published spring 2011 by Harvard University Press. To read more, click here.