With support from the Evanston Arts Council, Chicago Sculpture International, and Horigan Urban Forest Products, Emily Moorhead-Wallace with fellow artist Janet Austin, created a pollinator habitat sculpture Meg Chilidae, Prairie Sanctuary for the Evanston Ecology Center. The main purpose of this project is to create an interactive sculpture that functions as a pollinator habitat and artwork thereby joining art and science. Named after the genus species, megachilidae, of the native pollinator Leafcutting Bee, the artwork is intended to meet the optimal dwelling needs of indigenous pollinators, solitary bees, and other insects. Members of the Evanston community assisted in the creation of the habitats through programming at The Evanston Ecology Center. The main structure of the sculpture is fabricated in steel with wooden boxes for these habitat cells. Through the creation and maintenance of these pollinator habitat cells, community members will become educated on the proper needs of pollinator insects.
Meg Chilidea: Prairie Sanctuary, Pollinator Support Habitat, 2020 Location: Evanston Ecology Center, Ladd Arboretum, Evanston, IL Materials: Corten Steel with natural material nesting boxes Dimensions: 6’x2’x1.5’
Moorhead-Wallace 