The Cross-Pollination Lectures is a series of conversations between contemporary artists featured in the “Orchids: Attraction and Deception” exhibition at the Barry Art Museum and botanical experts in the field.

We kick off the series and celebrate the exhibition opening with this inaugural discussion: The Lady Slipper as Origin Story. Both Paul and Darrin’s careers have been heavily influenced by a chance encounter as a child with the Lady Slipper. Discover more in this dynamic conversation between a Glassblower and Orchid Expert.

PAUL STANKARD BIO: Internationally acclaimed artist and pioneer in the studio glass movement, Paul J. Stankard is considered a living master who translates nature into glass. His work is represented in over 80 museums around the world. Stankard is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary doctorate degrees. He most recently received the Masters of the Medium Award from Smithsonian’s The James Renwick Alliance and the Lifetime Achievement award from the Glass Art Society. He is an Artist-in-Resident and Honorary Professor at Salem Community College. Stankard authored three books; a 2007 autobiography, No Green Berries or Leaves; a 2014 educational resource, Spark the Creative Flame; and most recently, Studio Craft as Career: A Guide to Achieving Excellence in Art-making.

DARRIN DULING BIO: Darrin Duling is the Associate Director of The Arthur and Phyllis Kaplan Orchid Conservatory at ODU. A specialist in tropical botany and ecology, he holds The Royal Horticultural Society of England Certificate of Gardener Training, The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Diploma of Horticulture, and an MSc in Pure and Applied Plant & Fungal Taxonomy from The University of Reading, U.K. Former employment includes Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden in Chiang Mai, Thailand; The Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, Florida; American Orchid Society in Delray Beach, Florida; The New York Botanical Garden; The Native Plant Center at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, New York; and Mercer Botanic Gardens in Houston, Texas.