Welcome to the Really Small Eco Museum! | Bienvenidos al Pequeñsimo Eco Museo
Program & Coordination by: Artist Juliet Whitsett
DIRECTIONS | DIRECCIONES:
Step 1: Map yourself to the Metz Neighborhood Park | Holly Street & Pedernales Street.
Step 2: Walk, run or bike to the museum along the Butler Trail to the ECO Museum!
CURRENT EXHIBITION | : EXPOSITIÓN ACTUAL: Samantha Melvin, The Disappearing Prairies, 2024 Mixed Media
“The Disappearing Prairies” is a visual intervention about the flora and foliage of the Blackland Prairies, which have dramatically diminished over the last 150 years due to crop agriculture and development. The grid, seen here as cubes, represents the human imprint on the environment. While the work is playful, with the blocks painted with six
different patterns inspired by wildflowers, tall grass species and other native plants of the ecoregion, it is intended to grab our attention: we are part of the scenery as ourreflections place each of us in the landscape.
We are playing with nature that is slowly vanishing.
Plant List: (alphabetical)
- Big Bluestem, Andropogon gerardii
- Black Samson, Echinacea angustifolia
- Brown-eyed Susan, also known as Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta
- Cardinal Flower, Lobelia cardinalis
- Coralbean, Erythrina herbacea
- Eastern Red Columbine, Aquilegia canadensis
- Indiangrass, Sorghastrum nutans
- Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja indivisa
- Little Bluestem,Schizachyrium scoparium
- Mealy Blue Sage, Salvia farinacea
- Plains Coreopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria
- Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii
- White Prairie Rose, Rosa Foliolosa
Samantha Melvin (she/her) is an artist, art educator and arts advocate. Her research-based, multi-disciplinary artistic practice includes drawing, painting, and printmaking that focuses on the interaction between humans and nature. She is passionate about native species in particular, and the complex web of which we are all a part. Samantha teaches workshops at Flatbed Press, Center for Contemporary Printmaking in Austin, TX. She exhibits her work across the US and abroad.
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«The Disappearing Prairies» (en español Las praderas que se desaparecen) es una propuesta visual sobre la flora y el follaje de las Blackland Prairies, que han disminuido drásticamente en los últimos 150 años debido a la agricultura de cultivos y al desarrollo. La cuadrícula, vista aquí como cubos, representa la huella humana en el medio ambiente. Aunque la obra es juguetona, con los bloques pintados con seis motivos diferentes inspirados en flores silvestres, especies de hierba alta y otras plantas autóctonas de la ecorregión, su intención es captar nuestra atención: somos parte del paisaje pues nuestros pensamientos nos sitúan dentro del mismo.
Jugamos con una naturaleza que desaparece lentamente.
Samantha Melvin es artista, educadora artística y defensora de las artes. Su práctica artística multidisciplinaria basada en la investigación, incluye el dibujo, la pintura y el grabado, y se centra en la interacción entre los seres humanos y la naturaleza. Le apasionan las especies autóctonas en particular y la compleja red de la que todos formamos parte. Samantha imparte talleres en Flatbed Press, Center for Contemporary Printmaking de Austin, TX y expone sus obras en Estados Unidos y en el extranjero.
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RECOMMENDED READING / WATCHING:
- Native Plant Society of Texas, https://www.npsot.org
- Native Prairies Association of Texas, What is a Prairie? https://texasprairie.org/education/
- Texan by Nature, https://texanbynature.org/monarch-resources/nativ...
- Texas Master Naturalists, Blackland Prairies plant list:
- https://txmn.org/brazos/files/Wildlife-Plants-Blac...
- Texas Parks & Wildlife, Blackland Prairies:
- https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/grants/wildlife/cw...
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From May 2024 through April 2025, enjoy 12 eco arts shows in the solar-powered @ReallySmallMuseum_atx by Artist Juliet Whitsett as part of TEMPO on the Trail. TEMPO is a temporary art exhibition on the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail that is intended to cultivate curiosity, spark imagination, and encourage exploration of the city of Austin and is a partnership between The Trail Conservancy and The City of Austin’s Art in Public Places (AIPP).
Desde mayo de 2024 hasta abril de 2025, disfrute de 12 exposiciones de artes ecológicas. La artista Juliet Whitsett invita a artistas colaborativos a crear exhibiciones de arte ecológico de 1 mes en @ReallySmallMuseum_atx como parte de TEMPO on the Trail. TEMPO es una exposición de arte temporal en Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail que tiene como objetivo cultivar la curiosidad, despertar la imaginación y fomentar la exploración de la ciudad de Austin y es una asociación entre The Trail Conservancy y The City of Austin's Art in Public Places. (AIPP).