Frame Gallery Gifts and Art hosts an opening reception for its Sixth Annual Nature Journaling Group art exhibition, Sewanee Purple Through the Year, on Friday, March 27, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. Inspiration for the show came from the 2025 discovery of a new plant species, Phacelia sewaneensis, a purple scorpionweed that blooms in Sewanee’s Shakerag Hollow each spring.
Director of the Sewanee Herbarium and University of the South Biology Professor, Dr. Jonathan Evans, will give a special presentation about his research team’s discovery of Phacelia sewaneensis at 5:15 p.m. Evans says their discovery “underscores the incredible diversity right here at Sewanee on the southern Cumberland Plateau.”
Artist and head of the Nature Journaling Group, Mary Priestley says, “the plant had literally been hiding in plain sight for as long as people have visited Shakerag Hollow to admire the spring wildflowers. Many have commented on the scorpionweed's two distinct colors — purple and blue.”
Curious about the difference in Phacelia flower colors, Dr. Evans and his research team studied the differences in the plants’ habitat preferences, blooming times, and — most importantly — distinct genetic profiles to confirm that this purple-flowered scorpionweed variation was, in fact, a new species.
“For years, people thought there was only one species of Phacelia in Shakerag Hollow,” the blue-colored Phacelia bipinnatifida, explains Dr. Evans. “But thanks to detailed ecological and genetic research over the last four years, we’ve confirmed that the purple-flowered variety is actually a separate species.”
The common name of Phacelia sewaneensis is Sewanee Scorpionweed, because of the plant’s location and its early purple flower cluster, tightly coiled like a scorpion's tail. Admirers of the plant should know that, despite its name, it does not sting.
The Sewanee Purple Through the Years exhibition features Priestley’s original watercolor drawing of Phacelia sewaneensis, along with works by the Nature Journaling Group that explore the purple hues of spring—larkspur, hepatica, violets, and other blooms—found across the Sewanee Domain.
The other artist-members in the exhibit include: Laura Blackman (oil), Lin Cameron (oil and acrylic), Mary Davis (watercolor), Margie Gallagher (watercolor), Joni Gordon (watercolor), Yolanda Gottfried (watercolor), Deb Partee (watercolor), Mary Priestley (watercolor), and Deb Tucker (watercolor).
Frame Gallery owner Harriet Runkle intentionally plans Frame Gallery’s annual Nature Journaling Group exhibition, now in its sixth year, to coincide with the Trails & Trilliums Festival in Beersheba Springs on April 10-12 and Earth Day on April 22, 2026. The Sewanee Purple Through the Years art exhibit will remain open to the public through April 25, 2026.
Runkle says, “I am thrilled that this beautiful, newly discovered wildflower on our Plateau inspired the exhibit and that its artistic representation will be on display while Professor Evans gives a presentation of his research team’s findings at the reception on March 27.”
Prints of Priestley’s Phacelia sewaneensis will also be available for purchase, along with the other artists’ original works and prints.