Exhibition highlights role of pollinators worldwide

This image by artist Andy Jefferson is among the featured works in "Pollinators of the World" showing May 4 through 20 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The exhibition "Pollinators of the World" will show May 4 through 20 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

"Pollinators of the World" is curated by Charles Jones, director of the LaNana Creek Press at Stephen F. Austin State University, and Dr. David Kulhavy, Lawrence C. Walker Distinguished Professor in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, SFA.

International in scope, the exhibition features art from United States, Costa Rica, South Korea, Jamaica, Russia and the Czech Republic. Its purpose is to highlight the role of pollinators around the world.

"The recurring theme of bees, hummingbirds and bats indicate the significance and importance of these pollinators," according to Kulhavy. "These pollinators play a vital role in our ecosystems by carrying pollen from plant to plant to carry genetic material for reproduction of flowering plants."

Artists and student-artists of all levels were invited to create works on paper that reflected important pollinators from their area of the world. Among the submissions to the exhibit are images of bees, bats, birds, moths, butterflies, flies, beetles, lemurs, bush babies and geckos.

"The refreshing styles and varied mediums of the works in the exhibit portray the rich color, texture and vibrancy of this part of our environment," Jones said.

The exhibit contains work by local artists Piero Fenci and Liz Akamatsu, Corinne Jones, Charles Jones, Peter Andrew, Neal Cox and students from the SFA School of Art. Also represented are block prints of butterflies, bush babies and geckos from young artists from Nová Paka, the Czech Republic. From Jamaica, artists portray pollinating butterflies, hummingbirds and bats in mixed media. From Alapaevsk, Sverdlovskaya region, Russia, artists from the P.I. Tchaikovsky Children's Art School present color engravings on cardboard of "The Rustle of Wings," "Dancing on Flowers," "Velvet Bees" and "Cities of Butterflies." From South Korea, students portray bees and butterflies in mixed media. Other works come from students from Holy Trinity School, Dallas, presenting bees, bats, hummingbirds and the monarch butterfly.

Jones and Kulhavy included "Pollinator LIVE," the text of a song on a woodcut print, and woodcuts and poetry quatrains of the "Monarch Butterfly" and the "Zebra Swallowtail" from "A Forest Insect Alphabet" series, LaNana Creek Press.

Admission is free. The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.