- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Zoom lecture, titled "Plants, Insects and Art: Mary Foley Benson's Scientific Illustrations from UC Davis Collections," is the first in the Pence Gallery's Art History Lecture Series. The cost is free but a $10 donation is suggested. Registration is underway at https://bit.ly/3vZOV7t.
Tunic said he will explore her entomological and botanical art, her dynamic life, and her early U.S. Department of Agriculture career in Washington D.C., as well as her World War II piloting and her subsequent settling in California.
UC Davis owns 114 pieces of Benson's work. Many are located in Briggs Hall, home of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and in the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Tunic anticipates receiving his master's degree in June 2023. A freelance curator and researcher, he is a graduate of the University of Belgrade and University of the Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. He holds degrees in both art history and cultural management.
"A few months later, my art history department granted me the opportunity to do an internship there and I have been diving deep into the life and work of Mary Foley Benson since the spring quarter of 2022. It's really like detective work! I have been surrounded by insects, books and artworks for this whole time--which sounds great in my world--and I am thankful for the whole Bohart Museum team for making this possible."
Tunic has been working independently and collaborating with various art and education initiatives since 2012. He is a co-founder of Trans-Cultural Dialogues (as part of Cultural Innovators Network), Kustosiranje/About and Around Curating, and Street Art Walks Belgrade. He collaborates with art professionals, researching fields such as contemporary art, curatorial practices, street art and graffiti, science fiction, art appropriation, cultural diversity, experiential learning, independent cultural scene and self-management. His work has been published in a number of magazines and journals. (See more about his work at http://srdjantunic.wordpress.com/)
The Pence Gallery, located at 212 D St., lists upcoming talks and lectures on its website.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The Bohart Museum is located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane. The event is free and family friendly.
Among artists represented will be UC Davis graduate student Srdan Tunic; undergraduate students Allen Chew, Francisco Basso and Brittany Kohler; and UC Davis alumna Megan Ma; plus the work of the late scientific illustrator Mary Foley Benson (1905-1992), who worked for the U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture, the Smithsonian before retiring and moving to Davis. She also worked for UC Davis entomologists.
Tunic, a UC Davis candidate for a master's degree in art history, will present a seminar on Benson from 11 a.m. to noon, Oct. 15, in Room 1010 of the TLC Teaching and Learning Complex, 482 Hutchison Drive. (See separate news story on Tunic and see research story on Mary Foley Benson by forest entomologist Malcolm Furniss)
"I will focus on the visual material, and start by saying a few words about the museum, and then talk about Mary's life and art chronologically, paying special attention to her work at UC Davis," Tunic said. "At some point I will briefly touch on scientific illustration and how artists make this sort of work, and near the end, mention other illustrators I encountered during this process, and wrap up motivating people to dive into their local collections."
The family arts-and-crafts activity at the open house will be to "create your own Pokemon card," said Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. Also planned: eating insects, creating gall ghosts (from oak galls), learning about cochineal dyes, and showing off insect tattoos.
"We would love to have folks come and show off their insect tattoos," Kimsey said.
The UC Davis museum, founded in 1946 by noted entomologist Richard M. Bohart (1913-2007), is dedicated to teaching, research and service. It is the home of a global collection of eight million insect specimens. The collection is now the seventh largest in North America and includes terrestrial and fresh water arthropods. The museum is also home of the California Insect Survey, a storehouse of the insect biodiversity of California's deserts, mountains, coast, and the Great Central Valley. In addition, the Bohart features a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, walking sticks and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop, stocked with T-shirts, hoodies, jewelry, posters, books and insect-collecting equipment.
The Bohart is open to the public year-around (except for holidays) Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. It is closed to the public on Friday to enable research activities. Admission is free. For more information, access the website or contact the museum at bmuseum@udavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Benson (1905-1992), internationally known for her entomology and horticulture illustrations, served as scientific illustrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology and the Smithsonian Institution. Later, as a resident of Davis, she engaged in other projects, including working for UC Davis entomologists. Much of her work appears in campus buildings, including Briggs Hall, home of the Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and the Bohart Museum of Entomology. (See research story on Mary Foley Benson by forest entomologist Malcolm Furniss)
Tunic is a freelance curator and researcher. A graduate of the University of Belgrade and University of the Arts in Belgrade, Serbia, he holds degrees in both art history and cultural management. He anticipates receiving his master's degree from UC Davis in June 2023.
"A few months later, my art history department granted me the opportunity to do an internship there and I have been diving deep into the life and work of Mary Foley Benson since the spring quarter of 2022. It's really like detective work! I have been surrounded by insects, books and artworks for this whole time--which sounds great in my world--and I am thankful for the whole Bohart Museum team for making this possible."
Tunic has been working independently and collaborating with various art and education initiatives since 2012. He is a co-founder of Trans-Cultural Dialogues (as part of Cultural Innovators Network), Kustosiranje/About and Around Curating, and Street Art Walks Belgrade. He collaborates with art professionals, researching fields such as contemporary art, curatorial practices, street art and graffiti, science fiction, art appropriation, cultural diversity, experiential learning, independent cultural scene and self-management. His work has been published in a number of magazines and journals.
Since 2018, Tunic has been a contributing editor for Not Afraid of the Ruins, especially contributing to the open call Local Science Fictions (2019) and the forthcoming NAOTR anthology (2022). More about his work is at http://srdjantunic.wordpress.com/
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was like a moth to a flame--or 400 moths to a flame--when a record crowd surged into the Bohart Museum of Entomology Moth Night for its July 30th open house.
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, "how great it was to have the doors open again for the public," said entomologist Jeff Smith, curator of the lepidoptera collection.
The 400-member crowd, thought to be the largest crowd at the Bohart, other than at UC Davis Picnic Day, was there to learn more about moths, draw images of moths on the sidewalks, enjoy an evening of camaraderie, and head outside to watch moths and other insects fly onto the hanging white sheet, part of the blacklighting demonstration display.
“People could draw whatever they wanted on chalk (outside the Academic Surge Building), but there were a lot of moths, although my kids went rogue and drew a soccer field and a figure,” said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum education and outreach coordinator.
“We ran out of hot water, for the hot cocoa packets, and cookies half-way through!" Yand said, quipping "I thought we would be eating left over chocolate chip cookies at the Bohart all week, but alas that is not the case.”
The blacklighting display (white hanging sheet, ultraviolet light, and a generator) served as a demonstration site. "We had a few small beetles and a few small moths come in," Yang said.
The open house, which drew visitors from as far away as Alameda, took place the weekend before UC Davis summer sessions, so “the popularity among the college set was perhaps because of that, she said. "People were free from studying their required courses and so, on their own, they decided to seek out and learn about moths!”
Kareofelas fielded scores of questions about the Polyphemus moth, Antheraea polyphemus. “They are currently making their appearance in Davis, so a number of folks have seen them and had photos on their phones," he said. "A number of folks came with the desire to see a specific moth, and if we were lucky, it was located in the aisle we had open. Jeff (Smith) had pulled the drawers, from other aisles, with a number of specific species and had them labeled--a lot of questions about these drawers.”
"Some wanted to see the hummingbird moth, so I got to show Hyles lineata to a number of folks," Kareofelas said. "We had a lot of just plain 'good ol' interest' in seeing something and learning something about moths. The night started with a bang and went right to 11:00, still busy!"
"I was surprised at how popular the event was, how busy the store was, and how many folks showed up," Kareofelas said. "It was a great night!"
Smith spent the entire open house demonstrating how to spread the wings of moths. “I couldn't believe how many people came, and I was never ABLE to leave the table where I was demonstrating spreading," Smith said. "There was a constant group of people watching and asking questions, such as 'How did you become interested in this?' and of course, lots of questions on the spreading materials and techniques."
“The moment the door officially opened at 8 p.m., groups came in and headed in all different directions," Smith said. "One couple from Dixon was there with a group of scouts and they must have hung around my demo for 45 minutes with all kinds of interest and questions. People showed me photos on their cell phones of the white-lined sphinx moth, the ceanothus silk moth, and even a buck moth (Hemileuca) from Mono Basin."
Smith said he allowed "at least 10 different young people try their own hand at spreading a moth or two and that was really well received. I had a ziplock bag of surplus, papered moths and let some of the people take some for themselves. When it finally slowed a bit, I finally got up and couldn't believe it was already past 11 p.m." He headed over to the moth aisle where Kareofelas was still showing and answering questions about moths. "Greg did an amazing job. And, I ended up talking to a couple who work on campus until nearly 11:30."
Outside, the crowd marveled at the chalk drawings, including the tiger moths created by Srdan Tunic of UC Davis, a second-year master's degree student in art history. Skilled in street art and in academics (his Linked In profile indicates "Curating: creating bridges between art and people, ideas and objects"), Tunic is the co-founder, researcher and guide of Street Art Walks Belgrade, where he conducts lectures and tours on street art, graffiti, and the history of Belgrade. He holds a bachelor of arts degree (2008) in art history from the University of Belgrade, Serbia, and a master of arts in cultural policy and management (2017) from the University of Arts, Belgrade. He expects to receive his master's degree in art history from UC Davis in May of 2023.
The Bohart Museum, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, 455 Crocker Lane, UC Davis campus, and directed by UC Davis distinguished professor Lynn Kimsey, houses a global collection of more than eight million insect specimens. It also houses a live "petting zoo" (Madagascar hissing cockroaches, stick insects and tarantulas) and an insect-themed gift shop. The latest t-shirt features a Jerusalem cricket, aka potato bug.
