Marjorie Leggitt is an award-winning professional science illustrator based in Boulder, Colorado. Specializing in traditional and digital illustration for botanical journals, education-based publications and museum exhibits, she also creates art for commercial clients.
A self-taught artist, Marjorie began her career dissecting and illustrating Australian land snails at Chicago's Field Museum but soon return to her passion - drawing plants. While illustrating the first of several field guides, she was contracted by the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to collaborate with Dr. Kirk Johnson, world-renown paleobotanist (and current Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History) to develop visual reconstructions of extinct plant life for the Prehistoric Journey permanent exhibit, professional papers and scientific proceedings. Today, Marjorie continues to illustrate plants for floras, commercial clients, and loves most the work she does to recreate the ancient world of prehistoric plants.
A sought-after instructor, Marjorie has taught botanical illustration courses through the Denver Botanical Gardens School of Botanical Art & Illustrations since 1990. Her independent online and in-person workshops attract audiences from around the world and customarily sell out in 24 hours.
A member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI) since 1979, she served on the Board from 2000-2016 and is a recipient of the GNSI's Distinguished Service Award. Marjorie chaired the International GNSI Conferences in 2003 and 2014.
Marjorie is a member of the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists (RMSBA) and the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) and the Colorado Native Plant Society (CoNPS). She is the recipient of the ASBA Botanical Illustrators Award for Excellence in Scientific Botanical Art.
Marjorie is a Board Member of the American Society for Collective Rights Licensing (ACRL), a not-for-profit collective management organization for visual art authors and rights owners. ASCRL collects and distributes royalties to members based on representation agreements with other collecting societies from around the world.
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Clients include: Missouri Botanic Gardens, Smithsonian, Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Field Museum of Natural History, Miami Science Museum, Chicago Review Press, Timber Press, Storey, US Fish and Wildlife, Colorado Parks and Wildlife.