Science meets art in Yellow Bay

“Who here loves plants?” Seattle artist and former river guide and garden designer Sarah Jones asked the few dozen of us assembled for a day alongside Flathead Lake.

Since 1908 the Yellow Bay site has served as a biological field station, the oldest in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River. Science happens here year-round. In the fall the Flathead Lake Biological Station also becomes home to artists, courtesy the Missoula-based nonprofit Open AIR.

One result of the residencies, “Inquiry: A Day of Art & Science,” drew me and others to create, learn and explore. It was a glorious day in mid-October, when the landscape undulated with autumnal color and texture. As I made the drive, I felt lucky to live here at all, never mind the interesting reason for the jaunt.