(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Escape the winter cold and enter into a world of wonder at Reeves-Reed Arboretum’s first art exhibition of 2023, Imaginature: Children’s Book Art. The exquisite exhibition features illustrations, paintings, and wood block prints by award-winning artists Margaret Peot and Giselle Potter and will surely delight art and nature lovers of all ages! The show runs February 7 through May 14, 2023, and comprises a collection of works spanning book art, editorial illustrations, and fine art pieces showcasing each author/illustrator’s mastery of her medium.
Margaret Peot works and resides in New York City. She writes and illustrates fiction and non-fiction books for children, and how-to books for adults. Her most recent publications for young children include The Science of Light: Things that Shine, Flash, and Glow, a foundational science book, and the children’s picture book, At Night, a story about nocturnal animals and babies. She maintains a studio practice in woodcut carving and printing, with works informed by the plants and animals from her rural Ohio upbringing as well as those she encounters in her current urban environment. Peot also paints fabric for costumes with Parsons-Meares LTD. Her costume projects have appeared in numerous theater productions not limited to Broadway, American Ballet Theater, as well as arena and ice shows.
Giselle Potter was brought up in a family that always encouraged creativity and expression. As a child, she spent time traveling and performing throughout the United States and Europe with her parents’ theater company, Mystic Paper Beasts. Potter later attended the Rhode Island School of Design, where she created works that would become the book, Lucy’s Eyes and Margaret’s Dragon: The Lives of the Virgin Saints published by Chronicle Books. Her work has appeared in the New Yorker, Upstate Diary, and in self-authored books as well as books by Toni Morrison, Mary Pope Osbourne, and Gertrude Stein. She currently resides in the Hudson Valley with her husband and children.
All works in this exhibit are for sale, and the artists will generously donate 30% of each sale back to Reeves-Reed Arboretum. The public is also invited to meet Peot and Potter at the upcoming Artist Reception on Saturday, February 11, from 2:00pm - 3:30pm.
Reeves-Reed Arboretum’s Gallery Hours are Tuesday - Sunday 10:00am – 4:00pm except when closed for private events. Visit reeves-reedarboretum.org to confirm gallery hours before visiting. Have questions about this exhibition? Call 908-273-8787 ext. 1010 or email [email protected].
Reeves-Reed Arboretum is a non-profit public garden located at 165 Hobart Avenue in Summit, New Jersey. Grounds are free and open to the public daily 9:00am – 4:00pm.
Celebrating over 40 years as a historic public garden and education resource, Reeves-Reed Arboretum engages, educates, and enriches the public through horticulture and environmental education, and the care and utilization of the gardens and estate. Open 7 days a week, the Arboretum is listed on both the National and New Jersey State Historic Registers. Funding for RRA has been made possible in part by the NJ Historical Commission, a division of the Department of State, through a grant administered by the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Department of Parks & Community Renewal.
IMAGES: (TOP) Octopus Dreaming, Margaret Peot (MIDDLE) Giselle Potter (BOTTOM Flowers, Giselle Potter
