From a Naturalist's Sketchbook to a Cathedral Window by Allison Borgschulte

Name: From a Naturalist's Sketchbook to a Cathedral Window by Allison Borgschulte
Start: 2024-07-12T09:00:00-05:00
End: 2024-07-12T17:00:00-05:00
Location: Lauritzen Gardens

Schedule

Fri Jul 12 2024 at 09:00 am to 05:00 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Lauritzen Gardens | Omaha, NE

July 12 through August 18
9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
On the gallery walls in the visitor and education center
Included with paid admission or garden membership. $15 + tax, $9 + tax for ages 3-12, free for ages 2 and under.
Artist Statement
In my youth I lived with a forest in my backyard and a nature center within walking distance of my home. As a result, I took on the role of naturalist at a very young age. That was my first job title working at the Fontenelle Forest Nature Center. Job training included learning the names of plants, trees, and fungi and how to identify them. I could identify wildlife by their songs and snorts. More importantly, I noticed the presence of wildlife when they are not physically present. This was essential, because when hiking on a trail with a dozen or more young children, despite yours and their best efforts, it was not common to see a lot of critters. Nonetheless, the task was to engage the youngsters in a story and excite them about the forest around them. Thus, my role was not only naturalist, but storyteller. Changing career paths into art, those roles never left me. I create my work by observing the natural world, depicting the parts I find particularly captivating, and offering it to the viewer hoping to capture the viewers’ interest as mine has been captured by nature. I use glass as a medium utilizing the transmission of light and brilliancy of the glass colors to enhance the beauty of my subjects. I also believe the medium adds a spiritual element to my work with the tradition of stained-glass adorning church sanctuaries and cultural centers for centuries.
About the Artist
Allison Borgschulte is a multi-disciplinary artist working in glass, fiber art, painting, and kaleidoscope making. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2004 earning the Highest GPA in her graduating glass and a Mentorship Award. She has since had her work displayed in local, national, and internationally juried exhibits, received high honors, and been published internationally with the Surface Design Association, The Brewster Society of Kaleidoscope Makers, the Flow Magazine, and Glass Patterns Quarterly. Allison has been commissioned numerous times for large stained glass and fiber works of art in public and private spaces. In 2022, she created a memorial window in the Oakdale Elementary School Library of Omaha, NE. Along with her personal artistic endeavors, she currently works in a professional stained-glass studio in Lincoln, NE, Architectural Glassarts, as their premier patternmaker and glass painter. She resides in Lincoln Nebraska with her husband and two children and spends much of her summer in Minnesota on their private island on a natural lake where she soaks up inspiration for her art.