Posted Nov 22, 2025
Madison Coulter working on an oil painting in Nature Collab from the specimen collection . Students from across campus are welcome to pursue individualized projects like this or join our creative research community.
Posted Nov 17, 2025
ART AND MATH SEMINAR:
Between Perception and Structure: Seeing Math Through Art and Nature
Speaker: Kevin Bernstein
Date: November 20, 2025, noon-1pm (Topeka, Kansas time)
Abstract: When we look closely—at a leaf, light through water, or the surface of a painting—there is a sense of order that feels mathematical, even when we cannot describe it in numbers. While mathematics could explain that order, my way of knowing it comes through observation and making—through rhythm, symmetry, and the relationships that emerge in process. This talk reflects on how art and nature allow us to experience structure as something felt rather than solved. Through my paintings and work with Nature Collab, I explore how curiosity becomes a bridge between creative and analytical ways of thinking—between what feels like math and what we call wonder. Mathematics here is not calculation; it is a way of noticing, a quiet conversation between perception and understanding.
Posted Nov 13, 2025
Behind the Mural: Armando Minjarez ’12 Engages Painting and Nature Collab Students
ARMANDO MINJAREZ is creating a mural for Leadership Studies that centers the monarch butterfly as a powerful symbol of migration and resilience. For many, the monarch represents the bravery required to leave home, the endurance needed to cross difficult distances, and the strength it takes to begin again — making it a deeply meaningful emblem of the immigrant experience.
To support the mural’s development, Armando checked out three monarch specimens from Nature Collab to study their structure and patterning firsthand. These butterflies will appear in the final work, flying from one side of the mural to the other, echoing the monarchs’ own remarkable journey across vast landscapes.
Visitors are invited to experience Armando’s mural and unpack the many intertwined histories, causes, and cultural influences that shape the region. The finished mural will be completed in early 2026 in the Leadership Studies Building.
Posted November 13, 2025
Scientific Illustration + Nature Collab
Ryan Grutsch is exploring scientific illustration with Professor Kevin Bernstein and Nature Collab. Students from any discipline are welcome to pursue individualized projects like this and join our creative research community.
Posted September 21, 2025
Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency
Nancy Morrow was one of 12 artists who participated in the Cuttyhunk Island Artist Residency in Massachusetts early this September. The residency featured visiting geologist, Dr. Katie Castagna, Director of the Land-Sea Interaction Program, Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA.
Nature Collab Earth Day Booth at the Union
Posted April 15, 2025
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society 
SNature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society
Nature Collab + Soil and Water Conservation Society
Posted December 10, 2024
Allison Bowman ’17 has always been drawn to the tallgrass prairie.
Born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas, she came to K-State as a transfer student to study art, and whenever she needed a moment of peace and reflection, she would walk through the Konza Prairie. The gently rolling hills, waving grasses and beautiful wildflowers served as sources of inspiration that continue to weave themselves through her artwork.
Today Bowman is a multidisciplinary artist who also works for a nonprofit arts organization called Mid-America Arts Alliance.
“I think the connection that I have through everything that I do is nature,” she said. “My style is pretty whimsical. I dabble between abstract and realistic. I create artwork to connect people to nature, but also use it as a way to emphasize and to talk about art-making as a tool for mental health and well-being.”
Bowman said that during her time at K-State, she was able to experiment with many styles of art and form close bonds with her fellow artists.
“I loved all of the different types of classes that I was able to take,” she said. “I concentrated in painting, but with the studio art degree you were able to take ceramics and printmaking and jewelry and metal smithing; there are just so many classes that were offered that I thought were really interesting.
“I really just liked how everybody in the art department and the students there, we were all just a tight-knit group. We did everything together, and we did studio hours together. And the painting professors Nancy Morrow and Kevin Bernstein really pushed me to think outside the box when I was creating work. There’s still things that I hear them saying in my head when I’m creating work that helped me figure out problems that I’m having, or just little bits of advice that they gave.”
Bowman said that her favorite artistic mediums and materials to work with evolve and change over time. Although she loves oil paints, her current studio is located inside her home and doesn’t have adequate ventilation for that type of work. Recently, she’s been painting with acrylics and working on mixed media collage, which blends painting with found images of birds and butterflies, different types of paper, and pressed flowers and plants.
“There’s a little bit of real materials in my art, and then I try to create these intricate, layered pieces,” she said.
She’s also gotten more involved in public art displays, particularly since the COVID pandemic. She created a musical garden mural for an elementary school in Ogden, Kansas. The school also installed instruments shaped like flowers so that children can play and interact with the exhibit.
She participated in the Kansas City 2021 Art in the Loop project displaying art at streetcar stops. Her piece featured an abstract plant environment titled “Sacred Spaces” and was coupled with a QR code that people could scan and then complete a five-minute breathing meditation.
“It allows for art to be accessible by anybody,” she said of public art displays. “It breaks down those barriers of entry to be able to experience art. I love just bringing art to the community and allowing people to enjoy it, regardless of who they are, where they are in their lives.”
She even had a chance to showcase her love for the prairie through her participation in the Kansas City area Parade of Hearts public art campaign. Her piece, titled “Of the Prairie,” is displayed on the K-State Olathe campus.
While creating the heart, she learned about how little of the tallgrass prairie is left. According to the National Park Service, tallgrass prairie once covered 170 million acres of North America, but today less than 4% remains intact, mostly in the Kansas Flint Hills.
“I think it’s really important that we recognize that we have this beautiful thing in Kansas, and that we work to conserve and preserve it,” she said.
Bowman’s latest project, debuting in February 2025, is called “Prairie In The Parks: Sticker Vending Machine” and is a travelling public art project that highlights four parks within the Johnson County Parks and Recreation District that focus on natural prairie conservation and restoration. Bowman has designed a sticker and also commissioned three other artists to create stickers inspired by the parks. The sticker vending machine, which is funded by an Inspiration Grant from ArtsKC, will be popping up at libraries and community centers in Olathe, Shawnee, De Soto, and Overland Park, Kansas.
Bowman said that one of the biggest things that brings her joy through creating art is watching other people connect with her work.
“I have a lot of love for each of my pieces, but it’s such an internal process that sometimes you can really get in your own head about things. So I recently started doing art fairs and pop ups and that kind of thing, and bringing my work to people. It’s been really fun to just see how people connect to my work in their own way. I’ve learned things that I would have never even thought of about my own work just from hearing how other people talk about it.”
Bowman’s work also can be viewed at SNW Gallery at 328 Poyntz Ave. in Manhattan.
Profile photo credit: Skylar Ann Photography
see the original mention at K-State Alumni Association
Nature Collab Receives University Award
