The Leaf and the Page Through August 9 Monday-Saturday 8:30am-5pm Sunday 12-5pm Illinois State Museum 502 S. Spring Street 782-7386 Free

Imaginative plants

On display at the museum through July is, “The Leaf and the Page,” an exhibit featuring 11 contemporary Illinois artists who draw their inspiration from nature and create distinct visions of fanciful, surreal, beautiful, ironic and humorous plant images. Giant stainless steel plants, weeds made from trash, mushroom books growing out of the wall, and delicate stitched leaves are a few of the delights in this exhibition. The artists do more than mimic the form of plants; they play with material and scale to illustrate the symbolic and metaphorical connection between humanity and the natural world. Materials and media include: leaf embroidery, handmade paper, collage on archival paper, color lithographs, welded clay, stainless steel, gouache, watercolor on paper, gouache on paper, graphite on paper, collected materials and collage on board.