National roster of science illustrators to meet at UW-Madison

They’ll be coming to Madison in a force expected in excess of 120 professionals. The draw? The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators Conference, hosted in 2006 by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Sunday, July 30-Saturday, Aug. 5.

On-site conference coordinator Micaela Sullivan-Fowler, curator of rare books and special collections at Ebling Health Sciences Library, says that topics will range from drawing Wisconsin’s native rattlesnakes to creating three-dimensional art, and from insect illustration to landscape reconstruction to chocolate in art and more.

Richard Slaughter, director of UW–Madison’s Geology Museum for the last five years, will deliver the conference’s keynote address on Monday, July 31. Slaughter specializes in prehistoric caves of the Midwest and the bones often found therein. Using fossil deposits in caves, he is reconstructing how the region has changed in the last 25,000 years. He also tracks how endangered animals have reacted to climate change following the retreat of glaciers from the area.

In addition, a gallery exhibition at UW–Madison’s Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC) will showcase more than 60 traditional and digital examples of natural science illustration, embracing the fields of biology, botany, paleontology, earth science, zoology and others. Most of the art is on the third floor of the Ebling Library.

Sullivan-Fowler says that the presence of the art has transformed HSLC. “The paintings are both stunning and informative, lending absolutely fabulous color and elegance to the previously plain walls. People just love it,” she says.

In addition, “Science Made Clear: The Art of Illustration,” a collection of rare books highlighting the illustrator’s art from 1600-1930, will be on view until Friday, Sept. 29.

On Library Mall, “Secrets Reveal’d: Pseudo Science, the Occult and the Paranormal From Holdings of the Special Collections” will be up until Friday, Oct. 13, in Memorial Library’s Special Collections room on the ninth floor.

Both exhibitions are free and open to the public. However, conference attendance is limited to registered participants. For more information, contact Sullivan-Fowler at (608) 262-2402 or msullivan@library.wisc.edu.