Watercolor workshop in Yale's Marsh Botanic Garden, part of programming for ISM's new exhibit

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

On a cold and snowy Tuesday this week, Yale’s Marsh Botanical Garden was a toasty location for an “en plein air” workshop led by well known artist, Jon Seals. Inspired by a huge variety of greenhouse plants, participants experimented with watercolor and created two paintings to take home.

A 2015 graduate of the Masters of Arts in Religion program at the ISM and Yale Divinity School, Seals is a multifaceted artist, educator, and curator with over eighteen years of experience in the fields of art history, painting, drawing, curating, and teaching. His mixed media works develop through processes such as pouring, dipping, and combining hand-drawn and painted elements, utilizing the materials he collects as he engages directly with the soil, water, and plant life.

The workshop was part of the broader programming surrounding the new art exhibit in Miller Hall, “Symphonia: Dialogues of Landscape, Ritual and Resilience” that explores the profound and intricate intersections of religious, ecological, and expressive themes through the works of four Chicago-based artists: Joanne Aono, Karen Azarnia, Jon Seals, and Michelle Wasson. Envisioned as an artistic conversation that transcends traditional boundaries, the exhibition is designed to encourage contemplation and dialogue, creating an immersive experience for the viewer to explore.

View some highlights from the workshop below, along with some photos from the exhibit’s opening reception in Miller Hall on January 22.

The exhibit is sponsored by the ISM’s Religion, Ecology, and Expressive Culture Initiative and is on view from January 22-March 6 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 12-4 p.m.