Hunt Institute: News and Events

2012 Associates program

We hope that our Regular, Patron and Sustaining Associates enjoyed their memberships in the Associates program during 2011 and took full advantage of their benefits. As you consider renewing for 2012 or joining for the first time, we would like to preview our plans for the upcoming year.

Our annual Open House will be held on 24 and 25 June in conjunction with the spring exhibition, Native Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk, which will preview on 1 March and run through 29 June 2012 along with a series of Sunday talks about native plants. Previewing in September and running through December 2012, our fall exhibition will include selections from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Florilegium Society. Unfortunately, we will not be publishing an issue of Huntia or an exhibition catalogue in 2012. Instead, we would like to offer all members the Rose ‘Altesse,’ a signed 8-color granolitho of a watercolor by Lotte Günthart (1914–2007) that accompanied her Linger Golden Light exhibition at the Institute in 1984. Of Regensberg, Switzerland, Günthart was best known for her watercolors of rose cultivars. In 1970 a retrospective exhibition of her work, Lotte Günthart Paintings, Drawings and Prints, was held at the Institute, and her work was included in our 2nd International Exhibition of Botanical Art & Illustration (1968). Developed at Lichtdruck/Matthieu AG in Dielsdorf, Switzerland, in the 1970s, granolitho was a screenless process, resulting in printed reproductions that were virtually indistinguishable from the originals in hue and continuity of tone.

Those renewing or joining at the Patron, Sustaining or Benefactor Associate levels also will receive the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania’s guidebook, Wildflowers of Pennsylvania (Haywood and Monk, 2001), another selected Günthart reproduction and three free hours of staff research time. At these three levels, portions of your contributions are tax deductible in the following amounts, $40 for Patron, $440 for Sustaining and $940 for Benefactor.

As always, all members receive a 25% discount on our cards and publications, behind-the-scenes tours by appointment and our Bulletin. We will also acknowledge all members with a listing in the fall issue of the Bulletin. Please complete the Acknowledgment section of the renewal form or the Associates Order From to let us know if and how you would like your name to appear.

As another feature of the program, we are offering 2012 Associates the option of receiving the preview reception invitations as PDF files sent via email. It is our small step toward reducing our carbon footprint. To participate, please provide your email address and check the first box in the Customer Information section of the renewal form or the Associates Order Form. For those wanting to more fully participate in our green initiatives, please check the second box in the Customer Information section to receive an email when the Bulletin is posted to our Web site as a PDF instead of receiving the printed version via mail.

For anyone considering a first-time membership, this is the perfect time to join us. We also offer gift memberships in the Associates program. We can send an announcement card to you or directly to the recipient of the membership. A 2012 Associate membership is a great holiday gift for the botanist, historian or botanical art lover on your list.

Those 2011 Regular, Patron and Sustaining Associates wishing to renew their own or gift memberships for 2012 should complete and return the renewal forms that were sent with the fall Bulletin in November. Those planning to join or give a gift membership for the first time should contact us or complete and return the Associates Order Form available on our Web site. We hope that you will join us for another exciting year. We appreciate your support of the Institute’s mission and programs.

Publication Sale
The Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation is having an inventory reduction sale. We are offering several publications for only the price of shipping and handling while supplies last. Those visiting the Institute will be able to pick up the publications at no cost. A complete list of the sale publications with descriptions and images is available on the Sale Publications page.

Hunt Institute Sponsorship Program
Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt’s botanical collections of books, art, manuscripts, and portraits are known for their depth and fine quality, reflecting her enthusiasm and expertise in plants, gardens, books, and history. She was determined that her collections be “living” resources—not only preserved but also curated actively and used productively in the service of science and scholarship. To those ends, we continue to develop and enhance the collections at Hunt Institute, working to make them accessible and to preserve them for the future. We have an international audience and a small but growing group of interested donors. You can help to strengthen our collections and programs through monetary and/or material gifts.

Donor Recognition
We gratefully recognize donations in a variety of ways, such as with a letter of thanks, mention in our Bulletin and on our Web site, and through the use of donor bookplates. Of course, donors who wish to remain anonymous could be listed as such or may decline any official mention.

Monetary and Material Gifts
Monetary donations to Hunt Institute are tax deductible. Monetary gifts may be applied to our general operating fund or to the endowment generously established by the Roy A. Hunt Foundation to provide ongoing support for Hunt Institute. In addition to building the collections, gifts can be used for archival storage supplies, conservation and repair of collection material, digitizing and databasing projects, and production of publications. If you would like to expedite a current project or enable us to begin one, please let us know; special project support is always welcome. Or consider giving to one of the following funds:

Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden Art Acquisition Fund
This fund is named in honor of the late artist Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden (1907–2007). A 1930 graduate of Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University), Anne Ophelia is considered America’s leading botanical artist of the past century. After working as a teacher and a textile designer, Anne Ophelia turned her attention to botanical illustration in the 1950s, embarking on another career. She worked from specimens to achieve correct and exacting details in her artworks and with botanists to ensure accuracy. Fascinated by the natural world and its connections, especially pollination, she wanted to educate, interest and engage the public about plants. To this end, she illustrated nine books and wrote and illustrated eleven for which she also did the design, layout and the publication preparation herself decades before desktop publishing. Her passion for botanical art, science and education made her so special and inspired a generation of artists. She also maintained numerous contacts with botanists, artists, and botanical gardens, and whenever she spotted new artistic talent, she made recommendations to the Hunt Institute.

The naming of this acquisition fund after Anne Ophelia is a fitting tribute to her legacy. Our restricted budget hampers the acquisition of works by artists, particularly those new to our series of International Exhibitions. Unlike funds in our regular budget, which are contingent on the fiscal year, monies in the Anne Ophelia Todd Dowden Art Acquisition Fund will remain available until needed. The purchase of artworks from this fund will enable us to support and recognize artists working in the genre of botanical art.

Our collection includes Anne Ophelia’s bequest of over 450 artworks from which we have organized several exhibitions and travel shows. In donating her artworks to the Institute, Anne Ophelia wanted them to be preserved, but she also wanted them to be accessible for study by botanical artists. This fund will allow us to preserve artworks by the current generation of botanical artists and make them available for study by the next.

Individuals, as well as botanical art societies and other organizations, may find this fund an attractive way to support the Hunt Institute. We are very pleased to thank Lotte H. Blaustein and the American Society of Botanical Artists for the first donations to this fund. For further information write Lugene Bruno, Curator of Art, Hunt Institute.

Ronald L. Stuckey Endowment for the Preservation of Botanical History
In 2003 Dr. Ronald L. Stuckey, professor emeritus of botany at The Ohio State University, established the Ronald L. Stuckey Endowment for the Preservation of Botanical History at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. This fund will help us to acquire and preserve photographs, biographical sketches, and obituaries of botanists, as well as books on botanical history and bibliography. We are grateful for Dr. Stuckey’s long-time interest in Hunt Institute, its collections and its mission. We welcome additional contributions to this fund from others who share our commitment to the preservation of botanical history.

Material gifts of artworks, books, papers, etc., are greatly appreciated. For more information about the types of material gifts that we are able to accept, please see the Archives, Art, Bibliography, and Library pages. Material not suitable for the collections will be returned promptly to the donor, or the donor can choose for the Institute to sell the items to raise funds, to offer them to another library, or (for published materials) to include them in the Institute’s duplicate sales.

We are happy to provide a letter of acknowledgment and a list of the material received, along with short descriptions if needed, but we are not permitted by the IRS, nor are we sufficiently knowledgeable, to make appraisals on items donated to us. If you have retained the purchase receipts connected with your gift(s), these might serve your tax purposes in lieu of an appraisal.

Memorial Gifts
Memorial gifts are also welcome. For example, books purchased through your contribution can be marked with a donor bookplate upon request, acknowledging your gift in memory of or on behalf of someone.

Other Types of Contributions
There are other ways that you can help. Take our biographical record forms to distribute at scientific or botanical art meetings to help swell our biographical files. If you see botanical biographies and obituaries, drop a note to our Archivist about them. Send us notices about botanists that appear in newspapers, magazines and other regional or non-botanical publications. If you know of a group that will be meeting in or visiting Pittsburgh, suggest that they contact us about a group visit to Hunt Institute.

Please don’t hesitate to confer with us about any proposed gift, including its use and acknowledgment. We appreciate your involvement, and we thank you for your interest.

Archives Collection List
Finding aids for individual collections have been linked from the Archives Collection List for Michel Adanson (1727–1806), Paul Hamilton Allen (1911–1963), an Anonymous collector of Narcissus, William Andrew Archer (1894–1973), Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954), Peter René Oscar Bally (1895–1980), Rudolph Beer (1873–1940), Charles Edwin Bessey (1845–1915), Bernard Boivin (1916–1985), Botanical Garden of Padua, Botanical Society of America—Pacific Section, Adolphe Théodore Brongniart (1801–1876), Joachim Camerer (1534–1598), Harold Trevor Clifford (1927–), 11th International Botanical Congress (Seattle, 1969), David Grandison Fairchild (1869–1954), Gesellschaft Deutscher Naturforscher und Aerzte, Edward Lee Greene (843–1915), Frederick Joseph Hermann (1906–1987), Hunt Botanical Library, John Hutchinson (1884–1972), Hugo Iltis (1882–1952), Nicolaus Joseph von Jacquin (1727–1817), Jean Francois De Galaup (Comte) de La Perouse (1741–1788), George Hill Mathewson Lawrence (1910–1978), John Bernhard Leiberg (1853–1913), Willem Daniel Margadant (1916–1997), Mildred Esther Mathias (1906–1995), Franz Carl Mertens (1764–1831), Philip Miller (1691–1771), Benjamin Yoe Morrison (1891–1966), Christiaan Hendrik Persoon (1761–1836), David Prain (1857–1944), Joseph Rock (1884–1962), Velva Rudd (1910–1999), Norman Hudson Russell (1921–), William Edwin Safford (1859–1926), Arthur Moreland Scott (1888–1963) and Charles Swingle (1899–1978). More finding aids will be added soon. PDFs of thumbnails of individual and group portraits and biographical citations for many of the above subjects have been added to the individual collection pages.

For the latest information about our exhibitions, please visit the Exhibitions page.

Talks and tours offered during spring 2012 exhibition

Learn more about Pennsylvania’s native plants through a series of free talks that are open to the public at the Hunt Institute on Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. throughout the spring and early summer.

18 March, Steve Grund, “Why do plants bloom when they do? Spring ephemerals and other seasonal flowering patterns”

Spring is a wonderful time of year in western Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. Prominent among those reasons is the magnificent profusion of beautiful and intriguing wildflowers in our forests and in other habitats. Why do so many plants bloom early in the spring? Why do others bloom in the fall or at other times? We will illustrate some of our native plants with the paintings of Richard Crist as we focus on the diversity of flowering strategies exhibited by our native plants, emphasizing species that will be coming into bloom locally during the next few months.

Grund studied botany at the University of Michigan and since 1995 has been botanist for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. His work is focused on the conservation of the flora of Pennsylvania with emphasis on rare species. He is a research associate with the Botany department at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and a member of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, for which he chairs the Pennsylvania Rare Plant Forum.

25 March, Jeanne Poremski, “Pressing and mounting specimens for a personal herbarium”

Jeanne Poremski will demonstrate the process of pressing plants for preservation in a personal herbarium. From the selection of the plant to its pressing, arrangement and gluing, Poremski will cover all aspects of plant preservation for both simple and complex specimens.

Poremski is owner of Jeanne Poremski Gardens in Uniontown, Ohio, a landscape firm that uses appropriate native plants in its designs. She also does volunteer fieldwork and plant identification for the herbarium at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. A member of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Native Plant Society, Ohio Native Plant Society and the Northeast Ohio Naturalists, Poremski has also taught classes for the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens’ Sustainable Horticulture and Landscape and Garden Design certificate programs.

15 April, Dr. Mary Joy Haywood, “Wildflowers of Pennsylvania”

As an educator, Dr. Haywood believes that learning and teaching about our wildflowers in Pennsylvania is critical today as so many of our plant communities are being destroyed by coal mining, Marcellus Shale drilling and other environmental issues. In her presentation, photographs of plants, such as the rare shrub Pyrularia pubera Michaux, buffalonut; the noxious, but beautiful, Rosa multiflora Thunberg; and the rare globeflower, Trollius laxus Salisbury, will be shown. She also will include many of her favorites, such as violets, gentians, lupines, loosestrifes and the prickly-pear cactus that can be found in the Jenning’s Prairie. Many other plants will also be shown and discussed in relationship to the environmental areas where they are located, including bog plants, such as the pitcherplant, Sarracenia purpurea Linnaeus, and the many sundews, Drosera Linnaeus spp.

Haywood is a botanist and plant pathologist and professor emeritus of the Biology Department at Carlow College, where she also served as the chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. She is the co-author of the book Wildflowers of Pennsylvania (2001), published by the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania, of which she served as president for twenty years.

Sunday, 22 April (Earth Day), John Totten, “Wildflowers in the home garden”

Native Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk is a wonderful combination of the painter’s art and the science of botany. Your garden can be another place where art and science meet. Native plants and their wild haunts are powerfully evocative, and, with care, we can create home landscapes that celebrate this beauty and emotion. Creatively using these plants in the garden requires the painter’s ability to compose a scene and the scientist’s ability to handle plant selection and care. You will learn to evaluate your property with an eye towards selecting suitable plants, purchasing them responsibly and growing them successfully. Even if you are only a container gardener, you have the opportunity to let these plants and places surround you daily.

Totten is a partner in the garden management and development firm, Gardens! LLC. He is an adjunct faculty member at Chatham University’s Landscape Architecture graduate program and Penn State University’s Sustainable Landscape program. He also teaches classes in the Sustainable Horticulture and Landscape and Garden Design certificate programs through the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

20 May (Carnegie Mellon commencement), gallery tour of Native Pennsylvania, A Wildflower Walk with Hunt Institute curator

24 June (Hunt Institute Open House), Bonnie Isaac, “Rare plants of Pennsylvania”

Nearly one quarter of the native flora of Pennsylvania is considered rare or endangered. Plants are considered rare for a variety of reasons. Find out what some of our rare plants are, why we consider these plants to be rare and what factors we use to classify a plant as rare in Pennsylvania.

Isaac is the collections manager of the Botany department at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and co-curator of this exhibition. She focuses on the ecology of the phytogeography of rare plants, floristics and herbarium techniques. She also is the current president of the Botanical Society of Western Pennsylvania, chair of the Pennsylvania Vascular Plant Technical Committee and recording secretary for the Pennsylvania Rare Plant Forum; serves on the steering committee of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey; and is an adjunct research scholar for the Hunt Institute.

Open House 2012

We’ve set the dates for Open House 2012—Sunday, 24 June, and Monday, 25 June. We will offer talks, tours and opportunities to meet one-on-one with our staff to ask questions and see items in the collections. We encourage everyone to consider visiting us during this Open House. It will be a good time to see the exhibition before it closes and to have an inside look at our collections and our work. The schedule of events is available on the Open House page. We are looking forward to your visit.

From Slavery to Freedom: Pittsburgh and the Underground Railroad
Hunt Institute is assisting with a new, long-term exhibition on the Underground Railroad in western Pennsylvania, to open at the Heinz History Center in the fall of 2012. Our contribution will be images of and information on slave crop plants, southern food plants and wild edible plants growing between the South and Canada that might have provided sustenance to escaping slaves. Read more about this exhibition at http://www.heinzhistorycenter.org/exhibits.aspx?ExhibitID=22

This project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education
Underground Railroad Educational and Cultural (URR) Program.