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(ALBANY, NY) ALBANY – Two exhibitions opening April 20th at the New York State Museum -- Focus on Nature IX and COM.EN.ART -- will showcase natural history illustrations that include artwork by top illustrators from around the world.

Focus on Nature IX, a juried exhibition open through September 10 in Exhibition Hall, will feature 96 natural and cultural history illustrations, representing the work of 69 illustrators from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, England, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the USA. Subjects range from extinct animals, garden plants, and habitat renderings, to the surreal illustration of a Lipid-DNA.

Many of the artists will be available to discuss their work at a reception, open to the public, on April 20 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. At that time, the winner(s) of the Purchase Award(s) will be announced. Awarded artwork from the Focus on Nature exhibition will be added to the Museum's collection of over 15,000 biological, geological and cultural illustrations.

COM.EN.ART, open through August 30th, stands for community, environment and art. It is an artist-in-residency program at the Edmund Niles Huyck Preserve in Rensselaerville. Through this program, professional and aspiring natural history artists spend two weeks immersed in their subject at the preserve. In exchange for their living and working space, the artists donate an original piece of artwork to the preserve.

A cooperative venture between the State Museum and the Preserve, the exhibition includes 50 of the 78 pieces produced through this program, highlighting the contribution artists make to our understanding of the natural environment. The exhibition celebrates the 10th anniversary of the program and the 75th anniversary of the Preserve.

The Focus on Nature artwork was selected by a five-member jury of artists and scientists from a pool of 157 artists representing 18 countries. The criteria they used included the illustrations’ scientific accuracy, educational value, and artistic qualities. The exhibition’s goal is to demonstrate the important

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role illustration plays in natural science research and education, to stimulate curiosity about the natural

world, and bring clearly into focus aspects of nature that people might not otherwise be able to see or visualize.

“The idea of using illustrations as a means of identification and study evolved from medicinals older than the Greek civilizations, refined during the renaissance, and reached a “Golden Age” in the 19th century,” said Patricia Kernan, exhibition curator and scientific illustrator at the Museum. “Illustrators have kept pace with natural history science by communicating and recording the results of discoveries and research. The works in this exhibition are examples of how this tradition is being carried on to ever wider and deeper levels of understanding and sophistication. While illustrators continue using watercolor and other traditional materials, increasingly, they are using computers for the final production of their work.”

Many of the illustrations are done for publications such as field guides, textbooks, science articles and presentations. Often, a publisher will require a digital submission, which means the computer is used at some point in the process. A catalog of illustrations in the exhibition will be available and can be ordered by contacting bseymour@mail.nysed.gov.

The Focus on Nature exhibition began in 1990 with 23 artists. It is held every two years and complements the biennial Northeast Natural History Conference on April 20-21st, which is organized by the New York State Museum and the New York State Biodiversity Research Institute. The conference updates scientists, educators and students on research in the northeastern United States and Canada. More information on the conference can be found at www.nysm.nysed.gov/nhc.

The State Museum, a cultural program of the New York State Department of Education, was founded on a tradition of scientific inquiry. Started in 1836, the museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the United States. The museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. Further information is available by calling 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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EDITORS NOTE: Attached are lists of New York State, Vermont and Massachusetts artists whose works are represented in the exhibition. To set up an interview with the illustrator or to obtain a photo of the illustrator’s work please call (518) 474-8730 or 474-0068.