Louisiana Master Naturalists Urged to Submit Art Works to Drawn to Nature Exhibition!

Are you a Master Naturalist with a passion for capturing the wild beauty of the Pelican State through your art? Atelier de la Nature is officially inviting you to participate in their upcoming spring group exhibition,

"Drawn to Nature: Artist Naturalists Celebrating Louisiana's Biodiversity".

For centuries, the unique ecosystems and vibrant species of Louisiana have served as a profound muse for artists. This special exhibition seeks to bridge the gap between history and the present, showcasing how our state’s flora and fauna continue to inspire the creative spirit.

A Dialogue Between Eras
This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see contemporary works displayed alongside pieces by legendary historic artist-naturalists who once documented the species of Louisiana. Featured historic artists include:

• John James Audubon (1785–1851)
• Mark Catesby (1683–1749)
• Lorenz Oken (1779–1851)
• Rex Brasher (1869–1960)

Your modern perspective as a graduate of the Louisiana Master Naturalist program will stand as a testament to the enduring legacy of naturalist art in our region.

Exhibition Timeline & Key Dates:
The exhibition will coincide with the 2026 Louisiana Master Naturalist Rendezvous and will culminate in a celebration during the Fête de la Nature BioBlitz.
Drop-off Deadline: Saturday, April 4, 2026 (or before)
Exhibition Close: Runs through May 2, 2026
Pick-up Date: Sunday, May 3, 2026 (or after)
Submission Guidelines
The Atelier is looking for polished, professional presentations of your naturalist-inspired art:
Format: All works must be framed and ready to hang.
Scale: There is no strict limit on scale.
Multiple Entries: If you wish to submit more than one piece, please reach out to coordinate.

Have questions? Reach out to Brandon Ballengée at brandon.ballengee[@]gmail.com for more details on how to participate. Remove the brackets for the active email.

Visit Atelier de la Nature 1050 Andrew Gautreaux Road Arnaudville, Louisiana, 70512 www.atelierdelanature.org

Join in honoring the scientific and artistic wonder of Louisiana's wild spaces. We can't wait to see the world through your eyes!

by Brandon Ballengée

Atelier de la Nature invites you to this group exhibition featuring works by historic artists/naturalists John James Audubon (1785-1851), Mark Catesby (1683-1749), Lorenz Oken (1779-1851), Rex Brasher (1869-1960) and others that depicted Louisiana species, alongside contemporary artists that have taken the Louisiana Master Naturalist program including Susan David, Martha Garner, Carey Hamburg. David Herbert, Chris Kingwell, and others.

The ecosystems and species of our state have been the subjects of art for centuries and continue to inspire artists today.

The exhibition will be on view during the 2026 Louisiana Master Naturalist Rendezvous organized by the Acadiana Master Naturalists and run through May 2nd as part of the Fete de la Nature Bioblitz held May 2nd at Atelier de la Nature.  

An artist reception with wine and cheese will be held for Rendezvous participants on Saturday April 12 from 3 to 4 PM
 
 
Venue Address:
Atelier de la Nature
1050 Andrew Gautreaux Road, Arnaudville, Louisiana, 70512

www.atelierdelanature.org

https://www.facebook.com/atelierdelanature

Join us where science meets art in the heart of the Cajun bayou country! Registration for LMNA Rendezvous in Acadiana is now open. Please find all the information you need to register at Rendezvous 2026 webpage!

The Massive Atchafalaya Wetland Region — Larger than the Everglades. The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest river swamp in North America, spanning nearly 1.4 million acres. As an "overflow alluvial swamp," the water levels rise and fall dramatically with the seasons, creating a dynamic ecosystem that is constantly changing.


A Global "Bird Superhighway" — The Basin is a critical stopover on the Mississippi Flyway. See it in Spring 2026! 
The Numbers: Over 270 bird species have been recorded here. It holds the largest nesting concentration of Bald Eagles in the south-central U.S. and serves as a vital nursery for Prothonotary Warblers, Roseate Spoonbills, and Wood Storks.

Iconic Wildlife — The Basin is the primary stronghold for the Louisiana Black Bear (the inspiration for the "Teddy Bear"). It’s also home to:

• Apex Predators: ​ Lake Martin is justly famous for massive American Alligators.
  
  
• Aquatics: Over 100 species of fish and the world’s largest wild harvest of crawfish.
  
  
• Mammals: Bears, river otters, minks, and bobcats.

The "River of Trees" —The scenery is dominated by ancient, moss-draped Bald Cypress and Water Tupelo trees. Some of these "sentinels of the swamp" have stood for many hundreds of years. Navigating through these "cathedrals" by kayak or pirogue offers a silence and a sense of antiquity that is hard to find anywhere else.

A Living Laboratory for Naturalists —Managed for flood control by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the basin is at the center of complex environmental and engineering debates. For a nature lover, it’s a masterclass in how humans and hydrology interact — from the massive Old River Control Structure to the efforts of "Basinkeepers" to protect water quality and flow.

​LMNGBR - Home

by C.Paxton

I will never forget this experience, it was a fabulous opportunity to see this wonderful place in the light of its Lepidoptera!

By Charles Paxton & Danny Newman
On a cold December's day in Bawcomville, West Monroe, Louisiana. My wife, Kimmie Paxton, was having a stroll around the backyard to see what she might find going on in nature. In so doing she examined the charred remains of a deciduous stump in the makeshift fire pit that her family had created while clearing out some of her grandfather's outbuildings. Tiny white dots on lemon yellow stalks stood out like pale matchsticks along the top of the perimeter of the blackened stump. On further inspection, these little matchsticks white dots were also on the ground in a patch around the stump throughout the southwestern edge of the burn pile. A bit of macrophotography confirmed her suspicion that it was very likely fungal. She added her observation to iNaturalist listed as 'Fungi'.

Upon sharing photos of this strange white fungus to her mom, instead of the expected exclamation of joy, she received a deep-felt, outraged 'eughhh!!!' Perhaps not very surprising, on reflection, as some of these tiny structures resembled leprous toes thrusting up from the charcoal substrate, see http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193242907.

A few days later, on December 9, Kimmie called me outside to photograph these little fungi that she'd found with my DSLR and macro lens, and while there I lifted a board to the left of the fungi and was amazed to see some strange, fiery orange,yellow claw-looking structures emerging from under the board. I lifted a second board and we could see them fully revealed, they were orangeish yellowish fungi covered with little black dots on the side and they looked very weird; we'd seen nothing like them before.  As they looked unrelated to the tinier, paler, matchstick palid fungi that she'd found, I posted them as a separate observation ( https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213846964).

The Gulf South Mycological Society ascomycete expert, Danny Newman, was watching as we posted our observations on Inaturalist. He was exactly the right kind of person to be investigating this unusual case. He saw the specimens from both observations and understood what both the matchsticks and the strange, fiery orange claws might be.

It turns out that a similar, dung-dwelling fungus had been described from Sri Lanka in the late 1970s, depicted with both forms/stages as what was occurring in our burn pile.  The Sri Lankan authors created a new genus called Lindquistia to accommodate the pale matchsticks (the anamorph), which they believed was but an alternate guise of some sturdier, club-like forms in the genus Podosordaria (the teleomorph). 

The classroom portion was conducted at ULM's Hanna Hall, and the field trip was held with special permission at Nature Conservancy Louisiana's Copenhagen tract, Caldwell Parish, not far from the Ouachita River. Despite low temperatures and high winds, it was a great success! Our group leaders wore Orange vests and the fossils were found on the surface without disturbance of the soil or vegetation.

Dr. Stringer was kind and thorough in his examination and identification of the specimens that we found, he also kindly presented LMN-NE with some of his finds for the display that will enrich the group's outreach events!

Overview: The invertebrate and vertebrate fossils were collected on the surface with no disturbance of plants or soil. The invertebrate fossils were more numerous, which is typical. All invertebrate and vertebrate specimens recovered have been previously described from the site by various researchers and studies, i.e., no new species were found. Furthermore, no unique or rare specimens were recovered on the field trip. The fossils were common and abundant. At the conclusion of the field trip, Dr. Stringer identified the findings of each participant. Results are given below for the entire group including Dr. Stringer.
 
Taxa and number found:
Invertebrates
Coelenterates (corals)
Balanophyllia irrorata (39 specimens, the most abundant coral at the site)
Flabellum cuneiforme (27 specimens)
Endopachys maclurii (2 specimens)
Archohelia sp. (3 specimens)
 
Bivalves (shells):
Venericardia planicosta (24 specimens)
Cubitostrea trigonalis (46 specimens, primarily broken; oyster shells)
Glycymeris sp. (1 specimen)
Chlamys nupera (2 specimens, broken)
Thaumastoplax sp. (2 specimens)
Atrina jacksoniana (3 specimens; internal casts)
Teredo sp. (10 specimens)
 
Gastropods (shells)
Calyptraphorus relatus (2 specimens)
Clavilithes humerosus (4 specimens)
Architectonica alveata (1 specimen)
Athleta petrosa (1 specimen)
Pseudoliva vetusa (1 specimen, broken)
Turritella sp. (14 very small specimens)
 
Scaphopods (tusk shells)
Dentalium mississippiense (1 specimen)
 
Trace fossil
Burrow (unknown origin) (2 specimens)
 
Vertebrate remains
Myliobatis (1 small specimen of crusher tooth of eagle ray)
Shark coprolites (10 specimens; fossilized fecal material)
Shark teeth (4 specimens; 3 of Isurus and 1 of Carcharhinus)
Basilosaurus cetoides (whale remains; several small pieces of non-identifiable bone; 2 small pieces of ribs; one partially complete vertebra)
Zygorhiza kochii (small whale at Copenhagen; possible part of centrum of a small vertebra)
​