Garden Features Woodturning Exhibition

The Atlanta Botanical Garden will present the work of three generations of acclaimed woodturners February 9 - April 27 in the Gardenhouse Gallery.Conservation through Creation: The Works of Ed, Philip and Matt Moulthrop showcases the connection between art and nature by presenting how the Atlanta natives work with the natural beauty of a tree. The exhibition, presented in partnership with Signature Gallery, will include about 40 of their bowls, examples of tree material in its natural form, and tools used to produce the bowls.

Among the work will be the Moulthrops' new Atlanta Botanical Garden Collection created from tree material supplied by the Midtown and Gainesville gardens. The trees, many removed because of construction, include those with interesting characteristics of wood, such as the Caranday Wax Palm from the Fuqua Orchid Center and Wormy Japanese Maple from the Japanese Garden. In addition to the bowls, which will be available for purchase, the exhibition will include exceptional pieces from private Atlanta collections.

The Moulthrop legacy began with the late Ed Moulthrop, Philip Moulthrop's father, who died in 2003 - a self-taught artist credited as the "father of modern woodturning" whose designs are in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Philip Moulthrop and his son Matt have since carried on that legacy.The woodturners are acclaimed for using downed native Southeastern trees - tulip poplar, black gum, wild cherry, yellow wood - to carve something so beautiful and exotic that the wood looks as if it were harvested from a South American jungle.The Moulthrops' work can be found in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Smithsonian, the American Craft Museum of New York, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the High Museum of Art.The exhibition is included in Garden admission.