08/17/2026
Our recent Artist-in-Residence, Basia Krol, shared the following about her experience at the Emiquon Preserve:
A simple walk in nature is not simple anymore, not just for city dwellers or suburbanites but even for farmers. To walk in a forest is to walk through second—or third-growth riddled with rosa multiflora, and to walk the prairie, we now have to reconstruct it.
It gives me hope when humans reconstruct and give our fragile systems the care they deserve. We protect and cherish what we have amid the abundance of loss. Inspired by indigenous and restored natural habitat, my art explores the intersection of ecology and spirituality.
The restored floodplain of the Illinois River that forms the Emiquon Preserve is a perfect place for me. My stay there was full of magical moments and hours of uninterrupted reflection. I would wake up before down and run all the way to Thompson Lake to watch the sunrise. I can never achieve in my paintings the beauty of it but I will try to paint how the beauty felt.
I was fascinated by the lotus fields and the pelicans. Suddenly my mid-western state of Illinois became this wondrous tropical land. So many birds, dragonflies, frogs, giant fish, minks and muskrats and deer are everywhere and yet so elusive! How to paint them..?
I also found myself constantly wanting more. I wanted to be immersed, to get closer to animals, to wade up the stream till I was lost in the ridge, to follow tiniest deer paths through the prairies, to swim and float in the lakes, to get closer to pelicans and egrets and herons! Swimming was off limits but I spent some of the best hours of my life in the kayak, the Station let me borrow. I was surprised by the conflicting needs of belonging to and owning nature. I recognize this struggle as a very human struggle. It is hard for us to love nature and let it be. It must have something to do with our perception of being an outsider, a consciousness separated from the system, observing everything from our position in the center of the universe.
My joy, my struggles, hikes and adventures created an emotional footprint for many paintings to come. The best way to share Emiquon is beyond words.
Basia's artwork will be on display at Projects Unveiled on Sunday, August 23, from 1-4 p.m., at the field station, 11316 N. Prairie Road, Lewistown. The paintings will be among several artists' original pieces inspired by the Emiquon Preserve debuted at the event. Projects Unveiled is free and open to the public. Please dress appropriately for the weather as part of the program may be held outdoors.
The AIR is funded by the Visionary Giving Circle and partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and local funds from the Two Rivers Arts Council.
