LAS alumnus and visiting scholar's art featured in new Urbana exhibit

An exhibit showcasing butterfly nectar plants will be hosted at Urbana Park District’s Anita Purves Nature Center until the end of August.

The exhibit, titled "Butterfly Elf, What’s Your Favorite Nectar?" features 17 pictures by professor James H. Yang, a visiting scholar from Taiwan who obtained his PhD in linguistics from Illinois.

Yang's artwork includes pictures of milkweeds, star clusters, and kawakami hydrangea, along with butterflies native to Taiwan and the U.S., such as the monarch, tiger swallowtail, old world swallowtail, and zebra swallowtail. These pictures are the illustrations of his upcoming ecology picture book, "Butterfly Elf, What’s Your Favorite Nectar?" which is being published in 2025. The book is based on his butterfly pollination project aimed at educating elementary school children about butterfly ecology and environmental protection.

Yang said it took over three years to complete the exhibited pictures, while he led his students as volunteers in local butterfly festivals and taught children to cherish the earth.

“In these times of global warming and ecological disaster, teaching children about nature is more important than ever,” said Yang. "This project is my personal contribution to help bring awareness to our plight.”

He aims to promote ecological conservation through his project.