News Release Distributed 01/13/16

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden will present the sixth annual Brush With Burden art exhibition on March 13-20.

This event celebrates Louisiana’s talented artists and their depictions of the state’s cultural and natural resources, said Jeff Kuehny, director of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden.

“A juried multi-media exhibition, Brush With Burden features all types of art inspired by Louisiana's natural beauty under the theme ‘Southern Sights’ and will include paintings, 3-D work and photographs,’” Kuehny said.

The Brush With Burden exhibition will be open to the public in the Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie and the Ione Burden Conference Center 1-4 p.m. Sundays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. other days March 13-20.

The exhibition will kick off with a free reception from 4-6 p.m. on March 12. A ceremony at 5:30 will present awards for Best in Show, Judges’ Choice, People’s Choice and Merit for the best artwork in various categories, including painting, 3-D work and photography.

Earlier that day, Laurin McCracken will present a seminar “Why and How I Paint Realism in Watercolor” from 9 a.m. to noon in the Ione Burden Conference Center.

McCracken, an internationally known watercolorist, a practicing architect and a published photographer, also will be a juror and judge for the art show.

Jurors and judges for photography will include Richard Sexton, a photographer, artist, writer, critic, teacher and author; Thomas Neff, a landscape, architecture and people photographer; Reni Zietz, a Baton Rouge photographer; and Jim Zietz, director of photography for the LSU Division of Strategic Communications.

The event is sponsored by the Burden Horticulture Society and the Botanic Gardens.

In addition to this exhibit, winning artwork will be displayed at the Shaw Center for the Arts during the month of April.

All artwork will be priced for sale. Commissions from any sales will be used to support initiatives of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden, which is located on Essen Lane near I-10.

For more information about Brush With Burden, contact Kathleen Meares at 225-763-3990 or botanicgardens@agcenter.lsu.edu. Information also is available online.