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Franklin Park hosts art show

Prominent and emerging local artists will come together in Franklin Park this Sunday afternoon for “Nature’s Gems,” a first-of-its-kind holiday exhibit and sale of nature and community-inspired art.

Acrylics, oil and watercolor paintings, collages, mixed media pieces, photographs and sculptures — many of which were inspired by the city’s “Emerald Necklace,” a string of parks from Boston Common to Franklin Park created by famed park designed Frederick Law Olmsted — will be on sale, and 30 percent of proceeds generated by sales at the event will be donated for tree planting and woodland restoration efforts in Emerald Necklace parks.

The exhibit and sale represents the first time that the Franklin Park Coalition and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy have collaborated on such an event. A joint statement by the organizations announcing the show emphasized the groups’ recognition of “the powerful connection between nature and art” and their shared desire “to celebrate this relationship and offer local artists a venue to display their work.”

Among the local artistic luminaries whose work will be on display: Fern Cunningham, Bren Atchison, Roberto Chao, Lucilda Cooper, Eduardo del Solar, Karen Eutemy, Marcia Sewall, Hakim Raquib, Ekua Holmes, Susan Leskin, C.J. Phu, Robin Radin, Mardi Reed and Dan Tobyne, who will be signing copies of his new photography collection, “Boston’s Emerald Necklace.”

The free event, scheduled from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. and open to the public, will feature refreshments donated by Roxbury’s Dancing Deer Bakery, music by a jazz trio from Berklee College of Music, and a children’s activity corner where young artists can create their own pieces.

For more information, call the Emerald Necklace Conservancy at 617-232-5374 or the Franklin Park Coalition at 617-282-2881, or visit the sponsors’ Web sites at www.emeraldnecklace.org or www.franklinparkcoalition.org.