Written by Nichole Rawlings
The Arader Art Fund at Brenau University, established through Graham Arader, is a growing initiative to support the acquisition of natural history artwork and its integration into the curriculum. Since its development in late 2018 the Fund has helped to bring over 350 works to campus. The works include original watercolors, lithographs, and engravings and depict botanical, aquatic, and avian subject matter.
To celebrate the growing partnership and the integration of natural history prints, paintings, and drawings into the curriculum, Brenau hosted the Graham Arader Arts and Sciences Collaborative Opening Reception on September 25th, 2019 at the Brenau Trustee Library. The event provided students and the community with connections between artistic works and scientific exploration through programming that included a lecture delivered by Art and Design Chair and faculty member Claudia Wilburn. Wilburn’s lecture focused on exploring the natural history works through both social context and technical artmaking processes, including videos demonstrating printmaking techniques.
Examples of works discussed by Wilburn and other prints and rare publications were available for viewing, including Brenau’s complete collection of the Abbeville Press double elephant folio of John James Audubon’s Birds of America. During the reception portion of the evening, a shuttle was available to take visitors to the Science Building where 57 framed examples of works purchased through the Art Fund were available for viewing. Brenau students were engaged at the event, offering volunteer support and programming assistance. Studio Art major Jennifer Benetiz was set near the front of the library doing a watercolor referencing one of Audubon’s famous images of hummingbirds, demonstrating the ways in which the works are being integrated curricularly.
Through this program, Brenau is able to provide students with access to an extensive collection of natural history art that is unparalleled by similar institutions. Our intentions are to expose students to meaningful integration of the artistic works into a wide variety of courses, with unlimited potential for curricular adaptations across all departments.
