Calyxes and Polyps
Central Library
March 4, 2022 - May 5, 2022
The Houston Public Library Central Gallery presents an exhibition of graphite and mixed media drawings by Colleen Maynard. Between 2019 and 2021, Colleen Maynard studied and documented coral reefs and their biodiversity from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, located approximately 100 miles off the Galveston, Texas coast. Completed drawings will be exhibited alongside scientist and librarian-selected reading materials.
Works in the exhibition highlight and celebrate site-specific coral reefs and their biodiversity from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.
The Flower Garden Banks is the only one of fifteen nationally-protected marine sanctuaries located in the Gulf of Mexico. Boasting 56 square miles, it contains 23 species of hard (or “stony”) coral that provide a framework for soft corals, algae, fish, shrimps, crabs, urchins, sea stars, snails, manta ray and sharks, sea turtles and other marine animals.
Traditionally trained in paleontological and dry-botanical illustration, Colleen Maynard shifted her focus from terra firma to the living ocean for this project. The coral reef loomed as an abstract part-plant, part-animal, part-mineral, and she went to work visually dissecting the coral polyp anatomy and learning how coral grows, photosynthesizes, feeds, reproduces, and protects itself. She feels corals deserve to be studied as resourceful, complex living things that are invaluable natural resources.
This exhibition is funded in part by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
