Vitrines of a Vanishing World:
The Beauty and Demise of Botanical Gardens

Professor Craig Cully, Manasse and Devasthali Chair awards recipient, and Professor Kelly Leslie (University of Arizona) are collaborating on an exhibition that reflects on the aspirations of botanical gardens and the tradition of Vanitas painting, while addressing contemporary concerns of ecocide.

The paintings act as a collective meditation on what Professor Cully calls an “exquisite mourning,” offering spaces to contemplate both the beauty of our expiring earth and the emotional weight of vanishing plant species.

Reimagining the 17th-century Vanitas still life tradition, the works honor the hope embodied in botanical gardens while acknowledging the devastating impact of climate change on their mission to preserve global vegetation. Luminous, moody atmospheres and suspended flora—depicted in varying states of life and decay—create a tension between reverence and grief. Layers of illusionistic space, topographic marks, and abstract shapes evoke the uncertain, intangible quality of a vitrine.

This past summer, Professor Cully visited several U.S. gardens—including Longwood Gardens (PA), the Desert Botanical Garden (AZ), and the San Francisco Botanical Garden (CA)—to collect imagery for his compositions. He has since been developing digital sketches and producing multiple paintings in the studio for this project.