The Nature Conservancy in Vermont - Inspired by Conservation

Be inspired by the woodland and wetland natural communities, and the hundreds of plant and animal species that inhabit the natural landscape of Vermont.

Places We Protect

For nearly half a century The Nature Conservancy has been quietly at work protecting a statewide network of nature preserves for everyone to enjoy. Choose anyone or many of these location to inspire your art.

Capture the Essence

Identifying patterns in nature, like the typical associations of plants and animals often found together in natural communities provides another entree into the world of nature. Turn your artistic eye onto the breadth and depth of natural communities found in Vermont.

Wetland.
A swampy, mysterious place.
A marshy pond where
beavers live. Morning mist
and ducks among the cattails.
A dark, cool, mossy forest.
Cotton grass and orchids.
Muck. Marsh gas.

Woodland.
Sugar maples. A walk in the
autumn woods. Beech and
black bear. A dark hemlock
ravine. Wildfire on a pine
knoll. Hobblebush and spruce.
Spring wildflowers.

Wildland.
A natural place.
Wind. Rain. Snow. Wildfire.
Cliffs, gullies, and gorges.
A calm, quiet, healing place.

(from Wetland, Woodland, Wildland, by Eric Sorenson and Liz Thompson which describes in detail the many natural communities in Vermont.)

In celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2010 the Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy and its partners the Bennington Center for the Arts and the Bryan Memorial Gallery, are inviting artists to be inspired by conservation - to be inspired by the sights and sounds, the texture, color and light of 53 nature preserves and more than 100 locations across Vermont. The Inspired by Nature art show, will open at the Bennington Center for the Arts in Bennington July 2010 and will travel to the Bryan Gallery in Jeffersonville in Sept 2010, and will be the culmination of a year-long celebration of 50 years of conservation.

The nature and landscape of Vermont has shaped the character of the state and its people for centuries. Since 1960 The Nature Conservancy has played a pivotal role in protecting this landscape, conserving more than 180,000 acres of upland forest, lake shore bluffs, expansive wetlands and shady river banks. All species, soaring centurion oaks, iconic black bear, diminutive bats and stunning bog orchids, species large and small, common and rare, benefit from the protection of their habitat.

Subject Matter

Art inspired by nature, conservation, the landscape and all its elements including plants and animals at sites protected by The Nature Conservancy in Vermont in the last 50 years. More than 100 locations around Vermont invite the artist to explore and to be inspired.

Eligibility

All artists are eligible for consideration by the jury. There is no requirement of institutional or organizational membership or geographic location. The material submitted must be inspired by the work of the Conservancy in Vermont, must not yet have been shown at either the Bennington Center for the Arts or the Bryan Memorial Gallery, and must be current work.

For complete information on entry requirements read the Call to Artists and download the entry form.

Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Emily Boedecker/TNC (Richmond Floodplain): Photo © TNC (Rose pogonia).