Art at Oak Spring

Over the past several months, Oak Spring’s beautiful property and abundant, botany-centered library have continued to support some of the country’s most talented emerging nature artists and writers. Our vibrant landscapes and knowledgable staff have helped to inspire some truly innovative work relating to the natural world, which has in turn helped us in our mission to increase public dialogue on the history and future of plants.

Scroll down to read a little bit more about recent, current, and future art projects and programs at Oak Spring.

Recent Artists in Residence

Four artists from throughout the country traveled to the Oak Spring Garden Foundation last month, where they spent two weeks exploring issues of biodiversity through OSGF’s gardens, landscapes, and library. This particular group spent extensive time with OSGF’s legacy staff in order to increase their understanding of the land. The work they created during their time at Oak Spring ranged from poetry, to a short story, to a grass installation on the air strip.

To read more about the September artists, visit our recent blogpost on their residency.

(From upper left, clockwise: Naseem Rakha, Ian Boyden, Nina Elder, Pedro Ramirez)

Current Artists in Residence

Katie Holten

Fall 2019 AiR

New York, NY

Drawing, sculpture, installation

Image: Dillon Cohen

Bio: “Katie Holten is a visual artist and resistance fighter based in NYC and working in the world.

She grew up in Ireland and studied Fine Art and History of Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin, Cornell University in New York and Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.

At the root of Holten’s practice is a commitment to study the inextricable relationship between Humans and Nature. Drawing is her primary research tool in visualizing the challenges. Several years ago, recognizing a potential collapse of language and a looming crisis of representation as our species adapts to life in the Anthropocene, Holten created a Tree Alphabet and published the book ABOUT TREES, offering readers a language beyond the human.” (Read more on www.katieholten.com)

Katie Holten. Tree Alphabet, 2015, ink on paper, 100 x 70 cm, commissioned by the Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland for the group exhibition About Trees, October 16, 2015 - January 24, 2016.

Regan Rosburg

Fall 2019 AiR

Denver, CO

Painting and sculpture

Bio: “Regan Rosburg is an artist, naturalist and writer. Her work is founded in the principles of Ecopsychology, which she describes as society's collective grief, environmental melancholia, and “collective social mania” (her term). Rosburg believes these issues manifest in a relentless loop of consumption, distraction, and unresolved mourning. She is also completely enamored by the beauty, intelligence and resilience of nature, and finds inspiration from combining art with science. She fervently believes that artists are a crucial voice in discussing climate change and human impact.” (Read more at www.reganrosburg.com)

Regan Rosburg. "Vanitas III”, Three-dimensional sculptural painting (paint, mylar, silk, wood, foam, resin, pheasant wings, wasp nests, squirrel skulls), 23 x 27 x 4 inches.

Dolores Furtado

Fall 2019 AiR

New York

Sculpture

Bio: Dolores Furtado is a sculptor who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and now lives and works in Brooklyn. She has held residencies, participated in artists programs, and exhibited her work in Canada, Argentina, and New York. Her work focuses on matter, material, and formlessness. (To read more about Dolores and see her work, visit www.doloresfurtado.net.)

Dolores Furtado. Ice cubes, resin, 7 x 7 x 2 feet, 2015. Site specific sculpture for Governors Island Art fair 2015.

Dinora Justice

Fall 2019 AiR

Newton, MA

Painting, photography, installation

Bio: Currently living in Newton, MA, Dinora Justice was born in Brazil. She received her MFA from School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 2014. She has received multiple awards, and her work has been exhibited throughout Boston and the northeast. The themes her work explores include the feminine, nature, and environmental destruction. (To read more, visit www.dinorajustice.com.)

Dinora Justice. Portrait Fourteen - after Ingres' "La Grande Odalisque", 2018, oil and acyrlic on canvas, 24x36. www.dinorajustice.com

Studio shot by @dinorajustice .... #oakspringgardenfoundation #oakspringgardenfoundationartistresidency #flowers #garden #studio #oilpainting #mellonfoundation

91 Likes, 5 Comments - RosburgArt (@reganrosburgartwork) on Instagram: "Studio shot by @dinorajustice .... #oakspringgardenfoundation..."

Earlier this month, Oak Spring welcomed four more resident artists who are currently in the middle of their six-week stays. These women bring with them diverse perspectives of the natural world, their work ranging from sculpture to painting. Oak Spring staff and guests have enjoyed visiting with the artists as they explore the property and volunteer at the Bio-cultural Conservation Farm on Friday mornings, as well as following along with them on social media as they document their residencies. (See left, Regan Rosburg in her OSGF studio, and below, Katie Holten’s photographs of the library, reposted from Instagram and Twitter, respectively.)

We look forward to learning about the projects they worked on during their time here at the final artist’s showcase, which will be held in mid-November. We’ll be sure to post about that soon, but in the meantime, click through the slideshow above to learn a little more about these fantastic artists and their unique work.

The incredible library here @oakspring is nestled in a grove of orange, apple and pear trees. It’s home to thousands of books, dating back to the 14th century, all sharing knowledge of our relationship with plants. pic.twitter.com/vdgkmcIWOf

— Katie Holten 🌱 (@katieholten) October 25, 2019

Chestnut Rail Project

Earlier this year, OSGF sent out a call for letters of intent for site-specific sculptures addressing the plight of the American Chestnut tree, utilizing chestnut rails from fences that used to be part of the estate. Over the past few weeks, Oak Spring staff have heard three project pitches from finalists, ideas which included constructing benches from the rails, turning them into stumps resembling fallen American Chestnuts, spraying the rails in chrome metal, and writing a poem using texts from the library. The winner will be announced in mid-November.

Upcoming Residencies

The deadline is coming up soon to apply for our inaugural Botanical Artists in Residence Program (BAiR), a program aimed to extend our support for artists to who practice botanical illustration. Oak Spring’s library in particular is home to a wealth of botanical art, a practice that sits at a unique intersection of art and science and holds an important place in natural history. The deadline for the program is November 8th; residencies will begin in spring 2020. For more information, please see our flyer.

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Banner Image: 2019 Eliza Moore Fellow Ellie Irons working in her studio at Oak Spring in September. Ellie spent her time at Oak Spring creating watercolor pigments from plant specimens she collected across the Oak Spring landscape.