The Giverny Award is an annual children's science picture book award established in 1998 by Dr. Jim Wandersee and Dr. Elisabeth E. Schussler who was at that time affiliated with the 15º Laboratory at Louisiana State University. As of 2022, the MSUB Library will no longer actively add to this collection.
The name of the Giverny Award alludes to the renowned French village that provides the site, setting, and inspiration for the famous impressionist paintings that are synonymous with what we call "visual capture and explanation of the floral esthetic experience."
We think these paintings represent the visual inverse of humans' plant blindness (a current cause celebre of the Laboratory).
These images allowed humankind to see plant life in new ways--to see light, to see air, to see water--to see and experience vivid, vibrant plant life outdoors--as if viewers were really there. The viewer can contemplate populations of plants in breathtakingly natural light. Like insects, we are to drawn into these lifelike visualizations of floral panoramas--just as we hope children are drawn to the science picture books we choose to receive our award.
Note that the name "Giverny" is, in our minds, not only emblematic of the latent connection between art and science, but also of visual capture, visual explanation, and visual exemplification of captivating botanical views of the world.