Welcome to Reed-Turner Botanical Artists
Celebrating 20 Years Supporting Botanical Art and Artists!
Each year Reed-Turner Botanical Artist (RTBA) brings local botanical artists together to educate each other and the public about botany and the conservation of our natural resources through their artwork. Members have achieved success in presenting their botanical artwork at exibitions in the community. Members have also achieved success in national and international exhibitions, written articles in ASBA The Botanical Artist magazine and published books on botanical art. Reed-Turner Botanical Artist have made great strides in their 20 years.
Reed-Turner Botanical Artists is a Circle affiliated with the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA). Artists’ Circles are independent associations with a mutual interest in botanical art whose participants may be comprised of ASBA members and non-members. Reed-Turner Botanical Artists also maintains an ongoing relationship with the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Members meet monthly throughout the year. Meetings give members the opportunity to gather together with fellow botanical artists, learn botanical art techniques, become educated about botany, and share their botanical artwork.
Upcoming Important Dates
April 14, 2025, 10:00am to 12:00 pm Art Drop off for Mayslake Peabody Estate Exhibit (This is a Monday.)
If members cannot drop their artwork in person on this date and time, consider making arrangements with other members at or before the March 29, 2025 meeting.
April 18, 2025, Submission for 28th Annual International ASBA Exhibition Deadline. Watch for the upcoming ASBA EXHIBITION COSTS ASSISTANCE GRANT. $500 to ten artists to cover costs of enter exhibitions.
April 26, 2025, Workshop for Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Members: Depicting Trees with Kimberly Malarkey In lieu of a monthly meeting, this workshop by Kimberly Malarkey will starts early at 9:00 a.m and go until 1:00 p.m. Kimberley will provide techniques on drawing trees. Weather permitting, we will go outside for part of the lesson, but please bring photos of a tree(s), especially if the weather is not good. You may want to pack and bring lunch. You may work in the media of your choice. Please bring paper/substrate, drawing/painting materials.
May 17, 2025, Annual Plant and Art Show/Sale, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm The annual plant and art show/sale, at Reed-Turner Nature Center presented by the Long Grove Kildeer Garden Club and members of the Reed-Turner Botanical Artists Circle. Drop off at Reed-Turner Nature Center: Saturday, May 17, 8 - 9:00 am. or at the next two Reed-Turner Meetings on Saturday, March 29, 2025 or April 26, 2025. If you can stop-in to participate, share time with other members, and greet visitors at the show/ sale, please sign below.
June 8, 2025, Submission for Rooted in the Shadow of Coal - Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes Deadline
Brushwood Center will celebrate the plants of the dunes that remain Call for Entries HERE
Upcoming Education Opportunities
Chicago Botanical Garden offers many botanical art courses both in person and online including:
April 26 – May 24 Botanical Drawing II taught by Marlene Hill Donnelly, scientific illustrator of the Field Museum. There is a prerequisite of Botanical Drawing 1. Review course and register HERE
April 30 – June 4 Beginning Watercolor taught by Judith Joseph, artist and educator. No prerequisites required. Review course and register HERE
April 10 – May 8, Botanical Art: Succulents taught by Claudia Lane, freelance artist. No prerequisites required. Review course and register HERE
Heeyoug Kim offers offers many botanical art courses both in person and online including:
April 3, 10, & 17 Fundamentals of watercolor painting. This course is suitable for beginners. Courses are focused on botanical art subject matter and techniques. Review her courses and register HERE
Julia Trickey Talks are one hour presentations from award winning botanical artist and experienced tutors
April 24, 2025 - 7pm Simon Williams will be giving an illustrated talk and live demonstration on painting using gouache. Register HERE
Contact the RTBA website administrator HERE if you have a course coming up and would like it to be announced in the RTBA Newsletter
Upcoming Exhibitions
Now Open! Chicago Botanical Garden Orchid Show - India in Bloom opens and goes to March 23, 2025. It is a spectacular display.
10th Anniversary Enriching Life – Retrospective Exhibition
Now Open through May 4, 2025
The exhibition showcases botanical works by artist Heeyoung Kim and current and invited students of the Heeyoung Kim Botanical Art Academy she founded a decade ago at Brushwood Center. Opening reception March 2, 2025, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Register for the reception HERE.
Uncommon Perfection: Illustrations by Derek Norman
Open Now through May 9, 2025
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, PA
Derek Norman, founding member of Reed-Turner Botanical Artist has an exhibition at the Hunt Institute. In celebration of the recent acquisition of over 200 artworks by Derek Norman, the exhibition highlights work created over the last three decades and reflects his lifelong interest in the beauty of nature.
Botanical Art Worldwide 2025
April 4 - May 24, 2025
A More Abundant Future: Diversity in Garden, Farm, and Field
Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, Missouri
ASBA has curated this exhibition as the US component of the larger Botanical Art Worldwide project, with over 30 countries on six continents participating in simultaneous exhibitions and programs. ASBA has a block of rooms reserved at the nearby Drury Plaza Hotel. Check February Highlights for details.
Nature Artist Guild Spring Exhibition
April 4, 2025 - April 6, 2025
Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL
The artist reception for this exhibit will be on April 4, 2025, 4:30 - 7:00 pm. Several member of Reed-Turner Botanical Artist exhibit each year.
Reed-Turner Botanical Artist Botanical Art Exhibition with Emphasis on Native Plants of the Midwest
April 15- May 31, 2025
Mayslake Peabody Estate, located at 1717 31st St, Oak Brook, IL
Public Reception for this exhibit will be April 23, 2025, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (Members - review the Call for Entries for more details)
Rory McEwen: A New Perspective on Nature
May 16-August 17, 2025
The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 50 East Erie Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611
McEwen was singularly devoted to the technical aspects and traditions of his crafts and how, in the case of his paintings, they enabled him to capture, in the minutest of detail, the essence of his subjects—plants of all kind—in all their organic beauty.
Rooted in the Shadow of Coal - Botanical Treasures of the Waukegan Dunes
July 13 – August 31, 2025
Brushwood Center at Ryerson Woods, 21850 N Riverwoods Rd, Riverwoods, IL 60015
In this exhibition, Brushwood Center will celebrate the plants of the dunes that remain, and also address the Dune's environmental importance and the dangers that it and the community that live around it face. Opening reception Sunday, July 13, 2025, 1-3pm
From Our Blog
Membership
Dues are $25 for the year. These dues are put towards programs, website and exhibition costs.
Memberships are for a calendar year, January through December.
Benefits
Shared community of local botanical artist with common goals
Stay up-to-date with the botanical arts events
Workshops, lectures, and field trips throughout the year
Annual local exhibition opportunity
Listing of members websites and artwork in exhibition galleries
Contact us for more information about joining Reed-Turner Botanical Artist
Background artwork: George Dionysius Ehret (1708 - 1770)