Programs and Events

In the Gallery

The library gallery features works by area artists in month-long exhibits, which showcase the talents of several local artists' organizations and a variety of one-person showings. Located in the central lobby directly across from the Circulation Desk, the attractive gallery provides a casual and easily accessible venue for our patrons.

May: Works by Karen Johnson and Suzanne Wegener
(on display through May 31)

Meet the Artists
Thursday, May 16, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Join us for an informal evening to meet Karen and Suzanne and discuss their art.

About Karen Johnson and Suzanne Wegener
Featured: Barn Owl by Suzanne Wegener

Featured: Cecropia Courtship by Karen Johnson (detail)

Karen Johnson is a member of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators (GNSI), and the Nature Artists Guild of the Morton Arboretum. She has also exhibited with the American Society of Botanical Artists at the Chicago Botanical Gardens, the Olbrich Botanical Garden in Madison, WI and at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL. She has bachelors’ degrees from Iowa State University in biological illustration and entomology, the study of insects. Karen’s realistic depictions of flowers and insects are done in watercolor, gouache, acrylic, pastel, and scratchboard. Polymer sculpture in the form of jewelry is her latest foray into depicting insects and plants in an educational and artistic way.

She has done illustration work for a variety of clients including: Iowa State University entomology and veterinary departments, Organic Gardening Magazine, Horticulture Magazine, the U of I Extension Services and Ball Horticultural Company. Her artwork is included in private and corporate collections.

Currently she teaches pen and ink, scratchboard, and insect sculpture and illustration classes at the Morton Arboretum. She also demonstrates various art techniques and shows her insect collection at local venues. Her watercolor and acrylic techniques can vary from showing how to do abstract backgrounds to dry brushing details on a butterfly. Her insect collection shows the wide variety of insects that can be found in the Midwest as well as a few large tropical beetles and butterflies. Go to www.science-art.com/karenjohnson to visit her website. Find her blog at www.karensnatureart.wordpress.com.

Suzanne Wegener earned her undergraduate degree in Scientific Illustration from Northern Illinois University and an MS in Biomedical Visualization from the University of Illinois, Chicago. She is currently the Nature Arts Education Manager at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois as well as the Liaison for the Nature Artists’ Guild and the Morton Arboretum Photographic Society.

Suzanne has taught traditional art techniques at various institutions for over twenty years and co-taught the 2003 and 2004 and 2008 Guild of Natural Science Illustrator’s Summer Workshop and presented for the group at the University of Maine Fort Kent 2009. She is a Past President of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators and an active member of the American Society of Botanical Artists. She continues to teach botanical art at the Morton Arboretum and throughout the Midwest and has been represented by galleries in Door County and Sanibel Island, Florida.