Hunt Institute specializes in the history of botany and all aspects of plant science and serves the international scientific community through research and documentation. To this end, the Institute acquires and maintains authoritative collections of books, plant images, manuscripts, portraits and data files, and provides publications and other modes of information service. The Institute meets the reference needs of botanists, biologists, historians, conservationists, librarians, bibliographers and the public at large, especially those concerned with any aspect of the North American flora. Learn more
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The Healing Plants of Ida Hrubesky Pemberton
This exhibition catalogue was the first published monograph on the watercolors of Pemberton (1890–1951), who was working in a period when there were few female American botanical artists. Only 64 finished paintings (held in the collection of the University of Colorado, Boulder) exist by this little-known Denver artist, and they were produced between 1935 and 1942. Many were native plants that she grew from seed in her garden and that had a medicinal or other useful quality.
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Marilena Pistoia watercolor paintings
The Art Department has 232 watercolor paintings by Pistoia (1933–2017). Among the most widely admired modern botanical artists, she created a treasured collection of watercolors covering a wide range of botanical subjects, all abounding with vibrant colors, minute details and playful compositions.
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To Make a Prairie: Pollination and Human Understanding
17 March–30 June 2026Building on the words of Emily Dickinson, "To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee," our spring exhibition explores how humanity came to understand one of nature's most essential relationships: the intricate partnership between plants and their pollinators.
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