Cantrell Gallery opens “Brazil: An Endangered Beauty,” pastels and watercolors of rainforest wildlife by Kitty Harvill, tonight with a reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Harvill, who divides her time between the U.S. and Brazil, isn’t just making lovely drawings but is working to draw attention to the degradation of the the Atlantic Coastal Region Rainforest. A portion of proceeds from the sale of the work at Cantrell Gallery will benefit Audubon Arkansas, the Society for Wildlife Research and Environmental Education (a partner of the Nature Conservancy) and the Mater Natura Enviromental Studies Institute.
From Harvill’s artist statement:
Our relationship with Nature should be a reciprocal one. We, who are working in conservation, see ourselves as helping Nature. It is Nature that has the greatest gifts to give to us. If you have ever spent extended time in Nature you know the solace and peace that you derive from that experience. As an artist, I believe one absorbs that mystery into one’s very being, into one’s soul. The works we then produce express these very deep feelings and it is this that we wish to convey to our viewers, so that they too may be touched by the healing power of Nature.
The exhibit runs through April 9.