PLANTS OF THE JAMES RIVER PROJECT

by Judy Thomas

Our organization, the Plants of the James River Project, was inspired by the 2016 ASBA conference in Pittsburgh. Paula Blair and I developed the idea to illustrate native plants along the historic James River. The goals of our project were many, and included:

-Raising the profile of botanical art in the region.

-Illustrating native plants to show people their beauty and to encourage them to use them in their landscaping.

-Honoring the legacy of Newton Ancarrow, an early Richmond environmentalist, who documented native and introduced plants growing in what is currently the James River Park system. Ancarrow took over 35,000 large format slides of plants at the river and documented them, and thus creating the only known plant census of the area.

-Supporting environmental organizations through botanical art.

-Reaching underserved populations.

Our guiding principle was this: "If you have a skill, large or small, you should use it to do good."

Paula and I recruited two other botanical artists, CB Exley and Betsy Lyon. Together, the four of us, with the funding of the Richmond Tree Stewards, created an invasive plants coloring book to use in educational programs. With additional funding from this source and the James River Association, as well as the Riverine Chapter of Virginia Master Naturalists, we created a second coloring book on native plants on the Ancarrow list. For this second coloring book we invited regional artists to participate.

The grant enabled us to do many public educational events, including talks, lectures, botanical art demonstrations and participatory activities. The peak, "capstone" experience of this project was a juried botanical art exhibit of native plants at two venues, called "Ancarrow's List: Native Plants at The River's Edge." Our special juror was Lara Call Gastinger, twice RHS gold medal awardee, and chief illustrator for The Flora of Virginia. The exhibit was first shown, with presentation and opening reception, at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond, VA, in October 2019.The exhibit moved to Virginia Commonwealth University's Branch Cabell Library, Nov 2-Dec. 22, 2019.

The exhibit has received local acclaim and has had many visitors. Both institutions have reported a significant uptick in visitors since the exhibits were hung. These exhibits were funded by the Esther M. Plotnick Artists Grant, the Pocahontas Chapter of Virginia Native Plant Society, and through in-kind donations from Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and Virginia Commonwealth University. We produced a four-color exhibit catalog and received many individual donations to support this as well.

Through newspapers, magazines, exhibitions, presentations, radio, a public television spot, public educational events, and other platforms, we believe we have reached thousands of people in the region. Our events have been very well attended by members of the public and local environmental organizations. We met all the goals we set out to do three years ago, to use our skills to “do good.”