Irina Neacșu

Irina Neacșu focuses on endemic wild flora and is interested in research projects that raise awareness of natural habitats. During her residency at Denver Botanic Gardens, she created a body of botanical illustrations exploring her fascination with endemic flora, inspiring appreciation for the wild plant life surrounding us. 

About the Artist 

Irina Neacșu is a graduate from Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, Romania, and a postgraduate from the Rome University of Fine Arts. She runs a private art school in Transylvania, Romania. She was awarded an art residency at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and has exhibited at the Royal Horticultural Society Botanical Art and Photography Show in London. Her focus is on endemic wild flora and she is particularly interested in research projects that raise awareness of natural habitats. 

Jessi Harvey

Jessi Harvey inspires curiosity about nature through music incorporating humor, surprise and variation. The curiosity and joy expressed through their music offers listeners the opportunity to listen closely to the natural world around them. Their time at Denver Botanic Gardens was used to create Shades of Colorado, a string quartet that explores the lifecycles of local flora and natural phenomena in Colorado.  

About the Artist 

Jessi Harvey is a Montana-born composer and teacher. Their works are based in nature, social curiosity and humor. Harvey’s work "by the nature of our conversation" won first place at the 2020 Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival. They have worked with several music organizations including, Opera Elect, the Art Song Collaborative Project, and the performance group Strange Interlude. Their work has been featured nationally and they were a selected composer at Unheard-of//Ensemble’s Collaborative Composition Initiative and held a position as a resident artist at the Rensing Center, South Carolina.