Swarm

Swarm is a crash course in insects for artists. The week long residency will facilitate 10-15 excursions into natural habitats and laboratories, workshops and lectures enriched by biologists, naturalists and experts to learn and collect materials.

Course Outline

All activities are subject to change depending on ecological conditions, expert availability and other uncontrollable variables.

Artist talk: Residents are invited to give a private artist talk to share your work with the group.

Taxonomy:
A lesson on insect anatomy and how to identify insects with the Ottawa Field Naturalist Club

Moths:
We will set up a moth lure to observe the local moths.

Butterflies:
A walk in the field to see local butterflies with a lepidopterist.

Caterpillars:
Visit a lab at Carelton University where audible caterpillar communication is studied.

Fireflies:
We will hike out to catch fireflies with a local entomologist who will describe the 8 local species and their distinct flash patterns.

Dragonflies:
A guided hike through Petri island with expert entomologist to learn about the many local dragonflies and damselflies.

Bees:
A visit to a local honey farm to look at the hives and to learn about colony collapse and urban bee keeping.

A visit to a bee physiology lab at Ottawa University.

Invasive species:
A walk through the forest to look for evidence of bark beetles and to talk about insect tree relationships.

Art in the Dark:
Insects in Art History.
Contemporary Artists Working with Live Insects.

Pinning and preservation:
Visit to the Canadian National Collection of Insects, Arachnids and Nematodes, and a tour of one of the best collections of its kind in the world, with approximately 16 million specimens.

Illustration:
A meeting with a national entomological illustrator from the CNC.

Macro Photography workshop

Pests:
We will spend an afternoon with a progressive exterminator who will teach about local pests and cutting edge methods of dealing with them.

AMO:
The Ayatana Moth Observatory houses a small collection of live showy moths each year.