The Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial: Call for Entries

The Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial is titled Out of the Woods: Celebrating Trees in Public Gardens.

The Call for Entries has been issued by the American Society of Botanical Artists - and I've summarised it below.

Entries are eligible for New York Botanical Garden Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals.

The reason for posting it now is drawing and painting trees tends to take a bit of time. Also relatively few botanical artists draw trees - and I think I detect in this subject an attempt by ASBA to interest more botanical artists around the world in recording trees for posterity.

To this end I'll provide my photos of artists who been rather successful in painting trees in this post.

Masumi Yamanaka with her painting of the Stone Pine in Kew Gardens - planted in 1846
See Review: Kew's Heritage Trees - paintings by Masumi Yamanaka
Since she painted it, the tree has lost three major branches in a big storm in 2013
- proving the worth of painting the tree.

The Exhibition

This Triennial follows on from the very successful and much travelled Weird, Wild, & Wonderful exhibition) associated with the Second Triennial.

The exhibition will be at The New York Botanical Garden between November 18, 2017 - April 22, 2018 - and presumably will then embark on a long tour as the last one did.

Call for Entries

The American Society of Botanical Artists has published the Call for Entries

• Out of the Woods Call for Entries Download106.18 KB and 
• ASBA - Exhibition Entry Form 252.21 KB)

The theme of the Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial will be trees in gardens, inviting artists to capture images of one of the planet’s most important and beautiful resources. These tree subjects must be found in a botanical garden or arboretum, and each entry will include the location(s) of the entered tree(s) We encourage artists to seek out unique trees in botanical gardens and arboreta, in any season, and depict whatever aspect of them they find most engaging and inspiring.  

It doesn't specifically state that the tree must be one found in the USA so I'm guessing that any recognised botanical garden or arboretum will be fine - especially if the exhibition is going to attract international entries - which I'm sure it will.

Update: The Exhibition Director informs me that

• the arboretum or botanical garden does not have to be in the USA, as long as it is a recognized botanical garden or arboretum.
• the goals relating to the exhibition’s theme include:
• recording notable trees in public collections for the historical record
• developing relationships between artists and these institutions and organizations, and encouraging artists to learn about and depict trees
• educating the public about the contemporary practice of botanical art, the value of trees worldwide, and the important tree resources that botanical gardens and arboreta provide.

RHS Botanical Art Exhibition: Best Exhibit in Show
Lauraceae in Korea by Hye Woo Shin
GOLD MEDAL 2013 awarded to Hye Woo Shin
(see Interviews with RHS Botanical Art Gold Medal Winners)
copyright: images - Hye Woo Shin; photo - Katherine Tyrrell

What you can enter

• Up to three entries
• Two-dimensional original botanical artwork, size limit 40” x 46” either horizontal or vertical. 
• The subject MUST be trees grown in botanical gardens or arboreta - and you are required to state its location on the entry form
• Titles must include genus and species if known (and botanical gardens and arboreta tend to be good at labelling trees!)
• Artwork must be available for exhibition for the full period stipulated i.e. artwork must be available to travel from 2017 through 2019.

Who can enter

The only people who can enter are current members of the American Society of Botanical Artists - irrespective of where they live.

So - if you want to enter and are not already a member then you need to consult the ASBA Membership Page on their website.

How to enter

Deadline for Entries:  After the exhibition dates changed, the original deadline of September 30, 2016 has now been changed to April 28, 2017 

Your entry comprises:

• signed and completed entry form
• payment of the fee (Fee per entry: $35 payable by check or PayPal)
• images on a CD

On Line Submission: Artists may enter and submit payment online and then email image(s).

Image requirements: Images of the artwork should be submitted as digital files. The constraints are as follows:

• High resolution i.e. 300 dpi
• Size: an image which will print at 8” high (it might be worth checking that this is the longest dimension), 
• tif or jpg files are acceptable (in practice tif files will provide better resolution but larger file sizes)
• On a CD labelled only with artist’s name and artwork(s) title(s). 

Alert! Artists should read the small print which states

If the artist withdraws the artwork before exhibition, the artist will not be eligible to show at any ASBA exhibition for the following two years.

Note that all

• artwork must be framed in specific L-profile, maple exhibition framing. Full information will be provided to accepted artists. (I'm assuming that arrangements are made to assist international entries and avoid shipping disasters through framing in the USA)
• Artists are responsible for shipping to the New York Botanical Garden and for its return shipping at the close of the exhibition. Artists are not responsible for shipping between venues.

An RHS Gold Medal in 2015 was awarded to Kimeo Maruyama for her paintings of Pine Trees

How to get started

ASBA suggests the following as appropriate ways of getting to grips with drawing and painting suitable trees

• explore your local botanical garden or arboretum 
• contact horticultural staff of the Botanic Garden or Arboretum to learn what trees they believe are worthy of note. 
• other art societies or art groups of ASBA Chapters - develop a concurrent exhibition on the same subject 
• plan a group sketching trip to a local botanical garden to explore the opportunities and possible approaches

ASBA recommends the use of the following resources

• ArbNet and The Morton Register of Arboreta which is is a comprehensive list and database of arboreta and public gardens that have a substantial focus on woody plants
• The National Gardening Association public gardens locator 

I'm also developing lists of botanical gardens around the world on my website - and will also be developing resources re arboreta.