The Missouri Botanical Garden engages visitors with nature in unique ways. On Thursday, August 8, we are launching Nature Speaks Through Art—an experiential opportunity integrating nature, learning, and art. As part of our admission during extended evening hours on Thursday, visitors will be able to learn about Plein Air Art—a French phrase meaning "in the open air," describing the process of painting a landscape outdoors. The Garden has engaged the Missouri Plein Air Painters’ Association (MOPAPA) to have local artists (about 15) creating art throughout the Garden. A member of MOPAPA will be giving a talk in the Lelia J. and David N. Farr Auditorium for visitors to learn about the practice and its connections to nature.
Schedule:
5–6 p.m. – Set-Up and Start Painting
6–6:30 p.m. – Setting the Stage Presentation (Plein Air: Nature Inspired Art) – Speaker, Artist (Shawn Cornell) – MOPAPA – FARR AUDITORIUM
6:30–7:45 p.m. – Visitors will walk in the Garden to observe the artists creating new art – THROUGHOUT GARDEN
Thursday Extended Evening Hours
Take a sunset stroll through the Garden, enjoy dinner or drinks on the Sassafras patio, and explore the Doris I. Schnuck Children's Garden as the Garden stays open late (8 p.m.; last entry at 7:30 p.m.) on Thursdays this summer. Garden admission applies; free for Garden members!
About Shawn Cornell
Shawn Cornell is a plein air painter by the strictest terms. Simply defined-all paintings are completed 100% on location-there's absolutely no indoor touch up. He does this for the vast challenges of painting from firsthand outdoor observation and to fully honor the historical tradition of painting directly from life. Why complete the painting entirely on location? It's a personal challenge. He simply wants to see if he can.
Shawn's paintings are neither cutting edge nor deep in metaphorical meaning, they're simply stories about brief moments that he experiences and witnesses during his excursions. Hopefully these stories connect with the viewer, sparking a fond memory, a sense of familiarity or a bit of humor. Each painting is documented with its location, date, time of day, weather conditions, and brief observations about the day. Many have referred to this documentation as the painting's birth certificate.
For Shawn, painting "en plein air" is more than just creating two dimensional representations. "It's my wife's companionship as she illuminates the canvas with a flashlight so I can paint the full moon. It's my dad and me sharing a thermos of hot cheesy tomato soup while we paint a frozen, snow-covered stream." It's spending time to see the extraordinary in things many would call ordinary. It's a brief moment of life, captured on canvas.