New art installations at Chicago Botanic Garden highlight plant conservation, biodiversity

GLENCOE, Ill. - There are more than flowers and plants popping up at the Chicago Botanic Garden this summer.

Several new art installations are encouraging visitors to think about conservation. "Lost and Found" explores plant conservation success stories by way of adventures throughout the garden.

"Gleanhouse," for example, celebrates the crucial role seed banks play in those efforts.

"It’s important that we conserve seeds so we can have a biodiverse future," Jodi Zombolo, associate vice president of visitor events.

"[Because of] the possibilities for the unknown future, we have a greenhouse which is the artist’s take on a seed bank. And we have an on-site seed bank, so there’s work being done to get those seeds and keep them for the future," said Zombolo.

"Through the Eye of the Unicorn" is inspired by the well-known Renaissance Unicorn Tapestries and encourages people to re-thread their connections with nature,"according to the artists," Giovanni Aloi and Jenny Kendler.

"It urges us to engage in ecological preservation from ‘freeing’ grasslands in our own yards to restoring prairie state wide," Zombolo said.

"We have about four or five other artist installations that you can see throughout the garden and then we have hands-on activities. There’s drop-in activities you can do during the weekend. We have performances such as storytelling and acting performances. So all different kinds of things," Zombolo said.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is open daily from 10 a.m. until the sun  sets.

"Lost and Found" runs through Sept. 22.