ATTENTION: RTPI will be changing our ground floor exhibition effective March 16 through 26. Anderson Gallery and 2nd floor exhibits remain open. Admission is donation based. Thank you for your patience while we bring you new art.
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Art that Matters to the Planet: Beyond Beauty

Opening March 28, 2026, on view through September 27, 2026

Art that Matters to the Planet explores the ways in which art and artists matter – by drawing us into a deeper relationship with nature, opening hearts and minds to the critical challenges of our time, and inspiring us to the solutions we need to address those challenges.

Our 2026 theme, inspired by A Field Guide to Wildflowers, brings together two historic approaches to botanical art: aesthetic decoration and scientific illustration. More than just a pretty face, flowers play vital roles ecologically, biologically, culturally, and spiritually. Once again, RTPI contracted with a high-profile guest juror to examine almost 500 received submissions: Heeyoung Kim is the only living artist to be represented by the renowned natural history art gallery, Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, in downtown Chicago. Her exquisitely detailed native wildflower paintings raise public awareness about native plants and nature conservation.

For Beyond Beauty, the call for entry was sent to national/international botanical artist societies and museums in the USA, Canada, and the UK, and received applicants from over a dozen US states, Canada, Italy, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, and India. We ended up selecting 57 artworks from Utah, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Tennessee, Connecticut, and Washington. We will also be exhibiting works from Toronto, Pickering, and Almonte, Canada, and Klatovy in the Czech Republic. Works from various media were selected: works in silver, paintings in watercolor/acrylic/oil/gouache, origami vitreographs, paper sculptures, works on vellum, video installations, photographs, prints, stoneware, mixed media, fiber works, carved wood, embroidery, linocuts, cast bioplastics, and even artworks created from electroformed, oxidized seeds and regionally specific wildflower seedballs.

This year’s guest juror was artist Heeyoung Kim. Kim is a wildflower painter who contributes to public awareness about native plants and nature conservation. She is also the first living artist to be represented by the renowned natural history art gallery, Joel Oppenheimer Gallery, in downtown Chicago.

ABOUT GUEST JUROR HEEYOUNG KIM

Growing up in an environment where plants were used as medicine, Heeyoung Kim developed a connection to the plant world that goes beyond mere aesthetics. Her art communicates the profound purpose of plants intertwined with other lives in functioning ecosystems, urging viewers to see the world around them with deeper appreciation. Her works have been exhibited in prestigious galleries and institutions and are included in public and private collections, including the Transylvania Florilegium. Her renderings of native flora and fauna received a Gold Medal (Royal Horticultural Society, London, 2012) and Best in Show (American Society of Botanical Artists/Horticultural Society of New York, 2012), among others. 

Headshot credit: ©Indre Cantero 2024

Artist credits: Mila Rossi. Le Figuier de Barbarie. Mixed media, 2024.
Kelly Marie O’Brien. Botanica Lucida. Cast bioplastics with plant inclusions, 2025.
Carol Woodin. Three-birds Orchid. Watercolor on vellum, 2018.
Susan Munderich. A Delicate Balance. Linocut Print, 2025.

RTPI’s programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.