Heroes and Hosts
June 13, 2025 to April 26, 2026 Jepson CenterThe tenth annual Boxed In/Break Out is a collaboration between Savannah-based artists Lisa D. Watson and Dana Richardson. Watson is a native plant advocate with the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance and the Georgia Native Plant Society and serves as a guide for painter Richardson to explore indigenous plant habitats as inspiration for her paintings. Combining sculpture, painting, and text, the artists will transform each window into a theatrical narrative where fragile ecosystems take center stage. The scenes will invite viewers to step into an immersive experience that bridges the divide between human-made and wild spaces. Unique stories—from ancient trees in Maritime Forest to Longleaf habitats, fleeting grasslands and wildflowers, the adaptations of bog and aquatic plants —are revealed to evoke a sense of wonder and urgency and education. By casting Coastal Plains indigenous plants as both hosts and heroic performers, the installation underscores their critical role in sustaining life while highlighting the precariousness of their existence.
Guest judge Renée Maurer, associate curator at The Phillips Collection, selected Heroes and Hosts because “of the creative ways it addresses themes of biodiversity and conservation, using storytelling to highlight indigenous and vulnerable plant species in Georgia. Combining painted and sculptural elements, each window will theatrically reveal a beautiful, immersive, educational experience. The project will create moments of reflection allowing visitors to consider their relationship with nature and their role in conservation.”
About the Artists:
Lisa D. Watson (b. 1967) is a Georgia-based artist and gardener whose environmental concerns are expressed in each project. She has used salvaged objects as her medium for over 25 years including paper products, metal, industrial wood, produce netting and more. Watson seeks balance between urbanization and conservation in her artwork and garden design. Her company, Plan It Green Design, LLC consults homeowners with native, drought tolerant, and pollinator friendly landscapes. She is currently working with The Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance and The Longleaf Alliance to document imperiled plant species and assist with restoration projects. Watson holds a BFA from Columbus College of Art & Design in Ohio and a Certificate of Interior Design from LTU in California. Her work has been shown in Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia, among other places.
For more information about Lisa D. Watson’s work visit https://www.art-ldw.com/
Dana Richardson (b. 1980) is an artist based in Savannah, Georgia. She explores the re-enchantment of spaces through her subconscious painting method, using automatic processes to channel internal landscapes. Richardson holds a B.F.A. in Painting and a M.A.T. from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and is currently pursuing an M.F.A. at the Maryland Institute College of Art, expected to graduate in 2026. She is an art instructor at Savannah Christian Preparatory School. She returns annually to Ossabaw Island, where she completes a residency to study the unique environment. Richardson has studied the landscape at the New York Studio School, The Art Students League, and The Pennsylvania Academy. She was selected for a grant to the Vermont Studio Center. Her creative journey was also influenced by a year spent at the Marchutz School of Painting in the south of France, where her connection to landscape painting began. Her work has been shown in Los Angeles, Baltimore, New York, Savannah, and other locations.
For more information about Dana Richardson’s work visit https://www.danarichardsonart.com/
Heroes and Hosts is part of Telfair Museums’ #art912 initiative, which is dedicated to raising the visibility and promoting the vitality of artists living and working in Savannah. This exhibition is organized by Telfair Museums and curated by Erin Dunn, curator of modern and contemporary art.
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Lisa D. Watson; Pitcher Plant Preserve, 2025; acrylic paint on bed sheet, underglaze stoneware/earthenware, chalk and household paint, raffia, wood dowels, wire on constructed wood frame; courtesy of the artist
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Lisa D. Watson; At the Edge of a White Oak Forest, 2025; underglaze stoneware/earthenware, wire, cheesecloth, paper, glitter, glue paste, acrylic paint on board; courtesy of the artist
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Dana Richardson, Storm and Stress, 2024; acrylic on canvas; courtesy of the artist
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Dana Richardson; Marsh Portal, 2024; acrylic on canvas; courtesy of the artist
