Brandon Ballengée, an artist, biologist, and environmental educator based in Louisiana, will visit UT March 7–8. On Thursday at 7:30 p.m., he will deliver a lecture, “Praeter Naturam: Ecology Beyond Nature,” about his research and practice as both an artist and scientist. On Friday evening, his exhibition Love Motel for Insects will open at UT Gardens, with a reception from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Fabricated by faculty and students in the UT sculpture program, the works in Love Motel for Insects use ultra-violet lights on enormous sculpted canvases to attract insects and create an opportunity for public interactions with nocturnal arthropods, which are not often seen. The exhibition is part an ongoing series of outdoor public art installations intended to construct situations between humans and insects.

Ballengée’s visit is funded by the Haines-Morris Grant, the School of Art Programming Committee, the Department of Earth and Planetary Science, the OCEO 2019 Community Engagement Incentive Grant, and the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology. Both events are free and open to the public.