At the ISM, Footprints features taxidermy to die for. In an exploration of the natural history of what is today Indiana, stuffed ice age sabertooths cavort with stuffed otters, owls, fish and badgers, arranged in an unintentionally surreal tableau. This is installation art if I’ve ever seen it: a barrage of lives that were, juxtaposed for maximum emotional impact. Later in the show, there are piercing black-and-white photos of Indiana’s hunting history. The eyes of the hunters and their giddy hounds smolder with pride in front a wall of raccoon skins, circa 1935. Footprints has a high haunt factor.

The Harley-Davidson Museum, on the other hand, is pure exaltation. This cathedral to industrial design and American capitalism opened just this month after a multi-year planning process. Founded in 1903 by two pals (Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson) pimping bikes in a shed, Harley-Davidson is now global. Designed by Pentagram —the same firm the IMA is working with now on branding and wayfinding—the museum building is gutsy urban chic on a 20-acre plot in downtown Milwaukee, and a new biker mecca, no doubt.

Inside, there’s a motorcycle preservation lab, a stylistic gallery of engines and gas tanks, a social history of Harleys, and a slanted video screen with Evel Knievel footage. (The café’s corn-and-barley salad with tarragon pesto dressing was also super yum). Though the whole place could easily fall into the corporate propaganda category, I came away with an appreciation for the artistry of automotive engineering, an expanded concept of rugged American coolness, and a crush on the sexed-up architecture.

Both exhibitions raise questions about agendas in museums. Museums are by nature mediated experiences. How do artifact selection, building design and didactic language work on you? An object—an embarrassed-looking stuffed fox or a vintage Harley Electra Glide Sport—can leave you reeling.

We like to noodle on these issues at the IMA. The question of mediation or interpretation is especially interesting in the case of IMA’s Art & Nature Park slated to open in 2009. You can’t hang a label on a cloud. So we’re looking for ways to create dialogue between art and nature in visitors’ minds in surprising ways.

If you’ve had any memorable museum pilgrimages this summer, or meditations on museum objects with impact, do tell.

There most certainly is a place for natives. I did a design recently for a neighborhood park and included them in it. They definitely cross my mind when I know there will be extreme cultivation issues such as sunny and dry, shady and dry, wet and anything, or most importantly, minimal maintenance after establishment. Of course if there is a non-native available that is just as tough and prettier I have no problem going with it. Pretty always wins. Remember high school? I attempt to follow the “right plant, right place” mantra ignoring the individual plant’s origin. I want plants from everywhere and damn near every plant no matter where it’s from. As Divine said in Pink Flamingos “Get it all cracker. Get it all”.

Plus there is this whole debate of what is a native. Is it native to this country? To this region? To this state? To this county? To this site? If 10,000 years ago an animal transported the seed several hundred miles then pooped it out, is it native now? So what do you do? Seems like it boils down to individual preference. To one it’s a regional thing to another it’s a 50 square mile thing. How rabid do you want to be? There is a rhyme and reason for selecting germplasm from near you. The plants have evolved to survive your environmental conditions – your summers, your winters, your rain cycles. Red maples are hardy from New England to south Florida. All the same species but…… A red maple from south Florida is not going to be winter hardy in the Midwest. Those plants have changed over eons. Not enough to be a new species but enough to not be hardy just anywhere. Likewise a plant from Minnesota taken to Florida is going to say, “Where the hell is winter? And why doesn’t it drop below 80 at night?” Not going to be a happy plant. See the dilemma? It’s not all cut and dried.

But there are times when we want to use natives of some persuasion for a planting. One of those times is upon us now. As preparations go on for the opening of the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art + Nature Park in 2009 we have received the first plants for the area. A decision was made early on to replant with natives. This will not be a highly maintained site so the plants need to be able to take of themselves to some degree. For the reasons mentioned earlier natives should be better able to do this. With this in mind Chad studied Charles Deam’s Flora of Indiana and selected species found in the state.

First published in 1940, Deam’s book is considered THE reference manual on the plants of Indiana. Chad has been busy finding us a generous grant and the first (not the last) 600 trees and shrubs to plant. These range from 3 gallon container material to 2 ½ inch caliber balled and burlaped trees.

We are attempting to create a much more diverse ecosystem than what evolved on this site after it was farmed then quarried. To do this we have had to remove plenty of the invasive exotics with Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) being far and away the most common. This removal has created the greatest amount of planting space. We will also remove some invasive tree species and weedy native tree species. Yes Virginica, a tree can be a weed.

What will we plant back on the site? Glad you asked. For trees we have a mix of canopy and understory types. Here’s the selections for the first phase of planting: red maple (Acer rubrum, multiple cultivars), hybrid maple (Acer x freemanii ,a hybrid of the red and silver maple, A. saccharinum), Ohio buckeye (Aesculus glabra), paw-paw or Indiana banana (Asimina triloba), American hornbeam or blue beech or ironwood or musclewood (Carpinus caroliniana – see why I like scientific names?), shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa), redbud (Cercis canadensis), pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus), cucumbertree magnolia (Magnolia acuminata), black gum or tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica), white oak (Quercus alba), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), chinkapin oak (Quercus muehlenbergii), sassafras (Sassafras albidum), baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), American linden or basswood (Tilia americana ‘Redmond’). The shrubs are: red chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’), black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking’), American filbert (Corylus americana), smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens, H. a. ‘Annabelle’, H. a. subsp. radiata ‘Samantha’), shining or flameleaf sumac (Rhus copallina var. latifolia ‘Prairie Flame’), staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina). This is just the first group to be planted and doesn’t even include herbaceous material. As you can see we have included cultivars of some species. This is partly because of their improved characteristics and partly because it can be very difficult to find the straight species of many plants (those of you about to email me all the sources you know – please don’t). The end result is going to be a much more interesting and healthy plant community. I would think the wildlife would be most appreciative as well.

For folks wanting more information about natives and invasives might I suggest the Indiana Native Plant and Wildflower Society – INPAWS. They are a group very active in the state promoting the native flora and educating the public about the importance of it. For more info on invasive species (plant, animal, and more) try the DNR and USDA sites. When you need a break from all that plant stuff and want to see something truly exotic, look at this. If I just had more time for my animal genetics work.

I hate being stuck on a machine in a gym, just staring at the back sweat of the guy in front of me. To combat this, I have been taking an opportunity of the gorgeous weather and walking the Monon. Now, I am not an outdoorsy person, but being outside in the sun and fresh air is fulfilling- just add some bird chirps and I really feel like I am communing with Mother Earth. The trail provides changing scenery and a different experience each time, something missing from the gym.

My main walking partner left on Saturday for a month-long camping and road trip with her family in Montana (talk about outdoorsy!) and I have been looking for new walking routes to mix it up in her absence. I was very excited to discover the Central Canal Towpath and its connection to the trail around the 35 acre, man-made lake at the IMA’s Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park.

While I had heard about the more formal building that will be opening in 2009, I thought that all of this property was closed until that time. I was surprised when I found out yesterday that the peaceful, shady trail that runs around the lake is open and accessible from the IMA grounds, as well as the towpath.

I walked down to check it out yesterday, making my way down the path and across the bridge. I thought I had turned the wrong way because the trees get pretty dense, and it really doesn’t seem like there could be such a large lake in that direction. Suddenly, you come into a clearing, with the lake in front of you and a beautiful meadow to the left.

I had just started exploring when a flash of lightning appeared in the suddenly ominous clouds, and I headed for the museum. Thank goodness, I just missed a total downpour! I am looking forward to walking the full loop someday soon, so I can let you know what is on the other side. For now, I’ll share what I have already learned…

• The Art and Nature Park, Canal Central Towpath and red bridge can be accessed any day of the week by a road between the museum building and the Lilly-Oldfeilds house or a flight of stone steps connected to the Oldfeilds gardens.
• The Art and Nature Park can get very muddy after it rains.
• The red bridge connecting the IMA to the Central Canal Towpath and the Art and Nature Park was built in the 1870’s and restored in 1999.
• In a vegetation survey, 187 plant species were observed in the Art and Nature Park.
• There are rumors of a naked jogger using the paths.
• Naked joggers are neither art nor nature.
• There is a public forum at the IMA about the Art and Nature Park on June 19th, 2008.
• It’s about 1 mile around the path loop at the Art and Nature Park.
• It’s about 2.5 miles from the Butler University campus to the IMA along the Towpath, including once around the Art and Nature Park path loop.
• It’s about 5 miles from Broad Ripple to the IMA along the Towpath, including once around the Art and Nature Park path loop.

Do you have any juicy tidbits or stories to add about the Art and Nature Park?