The Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter and the Utah Native Plant Society invite nature and art lovers to experience the wild side of Utah native plants.
The two organizations have partnered for an art exhibit titled “Ephemeral,” which opens Sept. 12 and features 90 works of art depicting these plants, said Hunter Klingensmith, the EcoCenter’s director of visitor experience and exhibits.
“We will have a free opening event that runs from 5-7 p.m., and quite a few of the artists will be there so people can meet them,” she said. “We’ll also have refreshments and bites.”
The idea for “Ephemeral” came as the EcoCenter staff tried to figure out what to do for its autumn exhibit, Klingensmith said.
“The Utah Native Plant Society reached out and asked if we wanted to do a one-day show of art,” she said. “I was like, ‘What if we did a whole three-month show?’”
The exhibit runs through Nov. 29 and includes watercolors, oil paintings, embroidery and quilts, according to Klingensmith.
“There is some three-dimensional art as well,” she said. “One of my favorites in the show is a Utah-native poppy that is done in glass.”
The exhibit is less interpretive and more about the art, Klingensmith said.
“Each artist wrote a little description about the work, and a lot of them feature information about the specific native plant they depicted and why they were inspired to,” she said. “There are some plants that I didn’t know about that grow in the deserts in Utah that I got to learn about.”
Swaner Preserve & EcoCenter and the Utah Native Plant Society sent out a call for artists in early June, with a July 10 deadline, Klingensmith said.
“We had a ton of applications, and we were bummed that we couldn’t get everyone into the show,” she said.
Most of the artists are Utah based, but all are regionally based and live close to the Utah border, Klingensmith said.
“We had a jury of Swaner EcoCenter staff and the Utah Native Plant Society board, and it was so cool to be on the call when we were jurying the exhibit,” she said. “The Utah Native Plant Society team is so knowledgeable, and they have such a passion for native plants.”
Klingensmith named the American bistort and the Baltic rush as a couple of her favorite flowering native plants that are on the preserve.
“American bistort is a cool wetland plant, and from afar they almost look like a Q-tip,” she said. “They have these little white flowers all around a centralized top. It’s fun when you get a full field of those.”
The Baltic rush looks like a grass and it grows in the wetter areas of the preserve, according to Klingensmith.
“They have these rusty, dark-brown tops, and when you look out onto the preserve they are those dark patches that almost look like they are burned,” she said. “If people want to learn more about the native plant species on the preserve, we have some great brochures at the EcoCenter. Or they can come join our Saturday morning guided nature walks.”
The exhibit opens during a time when the EcoCenter staff is preparing to reseed its native vegetation, Klingensmith said.
“Margaux (Klingensmith) and Rea (Cone) of our conservation team were out Wednesday morning collecting native plant seeds,” she said. “I think they did Great Basin wild rye, which is a tall native grass that grows in our exhibit.”
The exhibit also serves as the kickoff to the EcoCenter’s Native Seed Library.
“We’ll have a fun library card catalogue that will be full of different Utah native seeds that are mostly regionally from northern Utah where we’re located,” she said. “There will be a process where people can donate native seeds, and we’re taking those donations now. We’ll ask you a couple of questions, and you can fill out a little form.”
People will be able to take home up to three packets of seeds with them from the library per visit, Klingensmith said.
“They will fill out a checkout form so we can see which seeds have been taken,” she said. “We have collected most of the seeds for the library, but we also supplement seeds from a local, native-plant nursery.”
Klingensmith enjoys the collaboration with the Utah Native Plant Society.
“They are doing so many cool things to provide education and resources as to where you can buy native plants,” she said. “They also do surveying about rare native plants in the area. So, getting to partner with them allows us to highlight the great diversity of native plants in Utah.”
The Utah Native Plant Society is currently preparing for its annual Native Plant Festival that is coming up in October at Conservation Garden Park, Klingensmith said.
“So this is a lead-up to it,” she said.
In addition, the EcoCenter will host a “Rooted in Fun: Family Plant Day” from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 20, Klingensmith said.
“We’ll have sensory-play opportunities,” she said. “People will be able to build a plant-inspired craft to take home, and one of the artists will lead one of the activities. We are also working on a few art workshops geared toward adults. The schedule will be released soon.”
‘Ephemeral’ Art Exhibit
- When Sept. 12-Nov. 29
- Where: Swarner Preserve & EcoCenter, 1258 Center Drive
- Information: tinyurl.com/5fu85frd
- Web: swanerecocenter.org and unps.org