Orange Grove Artworks

BY EMMA TAYLOR

Megan Barry grew up in Fort Myers in a family of environmental enthusiasts. Her
mother started teaching her about the natural world from a young age through beach clean-ups and road trips. By the time she was 15 years old, she had visited 14 National Parks. “She is so smart. We were always outside. My mom knows so much about Florida and the nature here. I learned everything I love through her, so it’s definitely something that was fostered from a young age.” Barry said of her upbringing.

Barry spent her days exploring the nature preserve near her childhood home and started drawing inspiration for her artwork and a life centered in the passionate
pursuit of conservation. Her creativity was encouraged and she began painting on her bedroom and laundry room walls—early buds of an artistic path that remain intact.

Barry is a graduate of Florida State University where she studied Environmental Science and Urban Planning. She is currently working toward her Master’s Degree
in Sustainable Policy at the University of South Florida. Her career path has been heavily rooted in a fusion of creativity and nature awareness. She worked at a wildlife sanctuary in college and later went on to work for a sea turtle rehabilitation center, as a tour guide on Sanibel Island, and for the City of Boca Raton Nature Center. She is currently the Public Outreach Manager for the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program.

Barry’s past vocations afforded her dynamic avenues for creative expression and she was able to explore her abilities beyond her hobby of painting. She found herself immersed in exhibit design, giving her the opportunity to convey science and information through a visual medium. Though she focused on the planning aspect of her education early on, she quickly realized that utilizing her artistic ability to inspire others to learn more about protecting and appreciating their natural
surroundings was her calling.

“I’m just so proud to be working for an organization that’s doing something for Florida’s environment. I always wanted to get here, and now I am. I would go and walk around Robinson (Preserve) and say ‘I need to be out here and get a job in nature’—a few weeks later, I was hired by the Estuary Program and we were out there planting the following weekend. It was a total full-circle moment. They saw my
art before they hired me. It’s really amazing how everything comes together,” she said.

In addition to her ‘day job’, Barry has begun lending her artistry and eye for nature’s beauty to Orange Grove Artworks, a platform she created to brand some of her photography and more graphics-based pieces.

A couple of years ago, early in the pandemic, Barry found herself with some additional free time and the desire to begin sharing some of her work with fellow nature lovers. Though she has donated or given away much of her time and art to both friends and organizations—many of her proceeds go to local conservation groups—she found herself wanting a new platform for her work. With a little brainstorming, “I thought, ‘what’s something unique to Florida that hasn’t been taken? Something I can make a cool logo out of that alludes to Florida’s feel?’
So, I thought, ‘Oranges feel synonymous with Florida’. I threw something cute together and it worked. I really like the sound of it,” she said.

The beating heart of Orange Grove is Barry’s earnest desire to share her veneration for the outdoors with those who are similarly moved. She set up a booth at the Downtown Farmer’s Market this past winter and was delighted with the positive interest she received from her fellow ‘locals’.

“I could tell the people who were from Florida by their interest in it (her work). I sold a piece depicting red-headed woodpeckers to a woman who was really into birds and knew all about the species. She told me she had a family of birds that looked just like the picture living outside her house. It was such a special moment for me because that’s exactly what I want. I want to make art for people who really love Florida’s environment. Very simple and true environmentalists. It was just so cool to share that.”

Barry’s piece for this month’s cover was a perfect selection because both her approach to conservation and her artistic sensibilities are very locally based. She is inspired by her surroundings and strives to spark that same passion in the viewers of her work. Her aim is to create pieces that are posturized and simple—very direct. “I don’t have the nicest camera or the most technical skill, but what I want is to make small things that simplify nature and remind people of their favorite parts of Florida,” she said of her intention.

Employing different methods of illustration and manipulation to her photography, Barry is able to create pieces that capture the purest parts of Manatee County. She believes that nature holds organic art and beauty so inherently that it’s easy to capture. She expresses that she feels lucky to have contributed her work to some of her favorite groups—notably among them are the Florida Trail Association and the International Estuary Foundation—but really, her vision speaks for itself in its encapsulation of the beauty that surrounds us all.

Barry’s existing artwork can be viewed on her Instagram page @orangegroveartworks. She also accepts commissions and the opportunity to interact with her fellow nature lovers.

“Education is so important. We have a responsibility to understand these places and really appreciate them because we’re not just tourists. These are our lands and we should foster, not only an appreciation for them, but a desire to learn what we can do to preserve them. We’re kind of the caretakers for these special places.”
-Megan Barry