November 20, 2019
Hi y’all, it’s Maire Cait! This past May, I graduated from UW-Madison with a bachelor’s degree in Community and Environmental Sociology with a certificate in Studio Art. As it turns out, my Studio Art certificate helped me with my role at the Garden. This summer I was presented with many opportunities to take on various art projects. Being able to continually practice my art and build my portfolio has helped expand my personal skills, beef up my resume, and give me the confidence to believe in my art and myself.
A few summer ago, I took Introduction to Scientific Illustrationwith Jacki Whisenant and it changed the way I saw almost everything. When looking at a group of trees, I no longer saw a mess of brown and green where every leaf and branch looked the same. Instead, I see an array of many different trees, each with unique leaf shapes and colors, intricate bark patterns and branches that have one-of-a-kind twists and turns… and that’s just trees! We studied plants, animals, cells, mythological beasts, bones, fur, feathers, cartography and so much more. It was nearly a full biology or anatomy and physiology class completely intertwined with art.
This class, along with my many other amazing art courses helped prepare me for the painting, drawing and writing opportunities ACG has offered me. Check out the Garden’s Facebook or Instagram pages to see what we’ve been up to.
by Maire Cait Mullen | External Relations Apprentice