Tanya Ackerman tPhotography
MURRELLS INLET, S.C. - Brookgreen Gardens celebrated the 2026 Brookgreen Medal, The Oconee Bell by Adam Matano, during its annual Medal Reception on Saturday, June 6. More than 250 members gathered at the Leonard Pavilion for the event, which honored the annual medal tradition and its connection to Brookgreen’s mission of uniting art, nature and history.
The program featured sculptor Adam Matano, along with Scott Brandon, Chair of the Brookgreen Gardens Board of Trustees and CEO of Brandon Agency, and Robin Salmon, Curator and Vice President for Art & Historical Collections. The medal is presented to members of Brookgreen’s President’s Council, Chairman’s Council, Huntington Society and Atalaya Council, which together include more than 2,500 membership households.
Now in its 54th year, the distinguished Brookgreen Gardens Medal Series was established in 1972 by renowned sculptor and former chairman of Brookgreen’s Board of Trustees, Paul Jennewein. Each annual medal reflects one of three themes selected by the sculptor: The Sculptor at Work, History of South Carolina, or Flora and Fauna of the Southeast. Each year, a new artist is commissioned by Brookgreen Gardens to create the medal, continuing a celebrated tradition of medallic art.
The 2026 medal, The Oconee Bell, explores the beauty and vulnerability of the natural world through three figures: the Red Wolf, the double-crested Cormorant, and the Oconee Bell flower. Together, the figures speak to fragility, resilience, rarity, and the importance of stewardship.
On the obverse, three Red Wolves gather in a moment suspended between presence and disappearance. Among the world’s most critically endangered canids, the Red Wolf reflects both vulnerability and survival. On the reverse, a double-crested cormorant builds a nest using deflated balloons, tangled rope, and plastic debris, turning signs of human impact into new life. Alongside it, the Oconee Bell, a rare Appalachian perennial discovered in 1788 and later lost to botanical record for nearly a century, serves as a quiet reminder of patience, rarity and the urgency of protecting the natural world.
“Each year, the Brookgreen Medal gives us a meaningful way to celebrate the connection between art, nature and our mission,” said Page Kiniry, President and CEO of Brookgreen Gardens. “Adam Matano’s The Oconee Bell is a beautiful example of that tradition. The medal invites us to look closely at the natural world around us, and to think about our responsibility to care for it.”
Matano is a Los Angeles-based representational sculptor whose work explores the complex relationships between humans and animals. Grounded in anatomy and classical sculptural traditions, his practice embraces contemporary approaches to create figures and forms marked by expressive gestures. Through his work, Matano seeks to honor the resilience, fragility, and complexity of the natural world in the face of a rapidly changing environment.
In addition to becoming part of Brookgreen Gardens’ permanent collection, medals from the series are held in the collections of the National Sculpture Society, the American Numismatic Society, the Smithsonian Institution and the British Museum.
To learn more about Brookgreen Gardens, visit: https://www.brookgreen.