2024 Sir Peter Crane - American Society of Botanical Artists

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Sir Peter Crane

James White Service Award for Dedication to Botanical Art

Story by CAROL WOODIN

Sir Peter Crane presented with award by Patricia Jonas, at the 30th ASBA Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 2024

This year’s recipient of the ASBA James White Service Award for Dedication to Botanical Art is Sir Peter Crane, a globally recognized leader in evolutionary biology and acclaimed for contributions to the study of plant diversity from its early origins to its current status. He has led some of the world’s most esteemed institutions, including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Chicago’s Field Museum, and served as Dean for the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He became the inaugural President of Oak Spring Garden Foundation in 2016, setting the Foundation on a path inspired by Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, and launching a multi-disciplined approach to conservation and the environment through the Foundation’s work.

Considering this small sampling of Peter’s accolades and his deep contributions to natural history, botany, and conservation, one might wonder how he finds time to advocate for the role of botanical art in today’s world. It is a mystery to us as well, but we do know he has long been a friend to ASBA. The fruitful relationship began with our first themed traveling exhibition, Losing Paradise? Endangered Plants Here and Around the World. Peter contributed an essay to our catalog, “Rare and Ephemeral Beauty: Botanical Art and the Future of Plants,” in which he described some of the ways that botanical artists and illustrators contribute to the awareness and conservation of plant diversity.

In his role at Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Peter has focused on developing diverse programs for scholars and artists to meet the Foundation’s mission, and it is here where our relationship blossomed. After having written our catalog’s introductory essay for Botanical Art Worldwide: America’s Flora, Peter invited a small group of ASBA members who were in Washington for that project’s launch to visit Oak Spring. We enjoyed discussing ideas for future collaborative possibilities. He was then serving on the Executive Board of the Crop Trust, headquartered in Germany, and became its Chair in 2020. The Crop Trust’s mission includes safeguarding food crops and crop wild relatives, and banking seed and plant genomes. We found much common ground, chiefly in reaching the public with this crucial crop diversity message, and thus our next exhibition theme was born. Abundant Future: Cultivating Diversity in Garden, Farm, and Field launched in 2021 at the New York Botanical Garden and traveled the country for two years. It was on view at Oak Spring for several months, our first exhibition to appear there. That theme, in turn, has been chosen for Botanical Art Worldwide 2025, adopted by thirty-some countries worldwide, delivering this important message about retaining diversity in the plants we rely on for food, clothing, and shelter to a global audience. Peter will present the keynote lecture on Saturday, March 22, at our virtual Spring Symposium to highlight this message.

Peter conceived of and established a new program of residencies for botanical artists at Oak Spring, with Mieko Ishikawa and Akiko Enokido its first invitees in 2018. Formally launched in 2020, this year Oak Spring will welcome its fifth cohort in the Botanical Artists in Residency program. With its rich rare book library for study and edification, its formal gardens, biocultural conservation farm, and broader landscape for inspiring plant subjects, and its welcoming community of staff, visiting artists, and scholars, it provides unparalleled opportunities. This program engenders life-altering experiences for artists who reside at Oak Spring for three weeks and may produce an artwork for Oak Spring’s growing Florilegium collection.

We count ourselves as the fortunate ones in conveying the 2024 James White Service Award to Sir Peter Crane for his constant advocacy, creativity, and guidance over many years. We look forward with curiosity and joy in anticipation of what the future may bring!

Carol Woodin is the Director of Exhibitions for ASBA, a widely-collected artist, and winner of many national and international awards.

Mieko Ishikawa, a 2019 OSGF botanical artist-in-residence, painted this 28 7/8 x 22 inch watercolor of Quercus phellos (willow oak) with a vignette of Oak Spring. This tree was planted by Mrs. Mellon in the 1950s.