Depiction of Vesper Meadows’ restoration project joins The Art of Science exhibit at ScienceWorks

By Emma Coke, Ashland.news

Every July for the past six years, artist Sarah F. Burns has painted the same bend at Latgawa Creek in Vesper Meadows. Her sixth rendition will be unveiled Friday for The Art of Science exhibit at ScienceWorks Hands-On Museum. 

Complete with treats, drinks and music, the unveiling will occur during a First Friday reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Burns will be in attendance to talk with guests and answer questions about her newest painting and other works. 

“We will get to see the unveiling, but we also get to have just a little celebratory party,” said Cynthia Salbato, creative director at ScienceWorks.

At first glance, the exhibit is a step away from everything ScienceWorks is known for. The plain white room is calm and clean, a stark contrast to the rest of the primary-colored museum filled with hands-on experiences and giggling kids. 

“It’s a little quiet respite from the rest of the museum,” Salbato said. “This is a place for grownups to come and have a quiet moment.” 

Salbato said it’s also still a fun place for kids, even with its quiet nature. 

To stick with the hands-on mission, there is always, like in the rest of the museum, an interactive aspect to the exhibit. A TV displays a livestream of Vesper Meadows and a table with colored pencils and paper sits near the front of the exhibit for visitors to draw. 

Opened in May, The Art of Science exhibit came to fruition after a realization that ScienceWorks needed to get out into the community more, according to Salbato. With Ashland being an artsy town, a collaboration with Ashland Gallery Association seemed the right idea. 

In order for the collaboration to work, Salbato said they needed to showcase science-oriented art and science-inspired art. That wasn’t as tall an order as one would think.

“So many of the artists in town, surprisingly more than one would realize, have science as part of their art,” Salbato said.

The exhibit is also part of the museum’s effort to shift more towards STEAM — science, technology, art and math — instead of just STEM.

“It gives us the opportunity to build bridges between the art and science community in our town and in our valley,” Salbato said. “It’s a wonderful mission to have.”

Salbato said art fits nicely into the museum’s mission to inspire curiosity and wonder.

“Art is a wonderful way to do just that,” Salbato said. “Art stimulates the imagination and allows us to see different perspectives.”

Burns is the first artist to have their work displayed at the exhibit. 

“For myself as an artist, I have found profound inspiration from science,” Burns said. “I hope too that the reverse is true, that there are some scientists that can find profound inspiration in the arts.”

Burns has turned to science many times to understand her subjects more and better inform her painting. When she was painting people, she studied anatomy and kinesiology. With her landscape work, she studied clouds and weather, as well as geology. 

“It turns out that, for me, science is a way to engage with the world and actually explore awe and wonder in the world and part of my art,” Burns said. 

Vesper Meadow, a nature preserve off Dead Indian Memorial Road about 12 miles east of Ashland, is the subject of the paintings Burns has displayed at the exhibit. 

Burns was first introduced to Vesper Meadow when she went on a tour with Jeannie Moy, the director of Vesper Meadow Education Program. The organization is working to restore the meadow and is focused on land stewardship and community involvement. 

“It’s this place that is another institution that values science and culture, art and science,” Burns said. 

On the tour, Moy told Burns about a group of scientists working on a creek restoration effort. Part of the project included taking photos in the same spot several times throughout the year to understand how restoration was going.

“I said, ‘Oh, well, you know, that sounds fascinating thing to do as a painting,” Burns said. 

Inspired, she began to paint the same spot in Vesper Meadow each July. According to Burns, it’s fascinating to look back at the paintings and see how much Latgawa Creek has changed. 

“(It’s) like a visual calendar, so to speak,” Burns said, “and you can really see with them, like, oh, this year was was wetter, this year was drier. Oh, this year we had smoke.”

Burns said she hopes she continues painting Vesper Meadow for as long as she is physically able. 

“I hope to be doing it when I’m 88,” Burns said.

Burns’ paintings will be on display through August. 

“I hope (visitors) experience some of the fraction of the awe and wonder that I experienced while making it,” Burns said.

Email Ashland.news reporter intern Emma Coke at emmasuecoke@gmail.com.

Aug. 3: Corrected spelling of Cynthia Salbato’s name.