Beauty of Pollinators: Boyce Thompson Arboretum presents Alex Heveri’s exhibition ‘Glass in Flight’ 

Criminal defense lawyer and artist Alex Heveri’s journey with glass insect sculptures started with designing a Blue Morpho butterfly sculpture for a friend’s memorial in Jan. 2020. Tucson Botanical Gardens took an interest in her work when they saw a photograph of this sculpture, and she ended up creating 21 sculptures for this first display. 

Since then, her insect sculptures have been shown at botanical gardens across the country. 

Boyce Thompson Arboretum will present one of Heveri’s “Glass in Flight” exhibits through Friday, Jan. 30. 

The display is open during regular daytime hours and during evening hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. 

The exhibit is the second in a three-part series. 

During the evening hours, the sculptures are illuminated. Kim Gray, executive director for Boyce Thompson Arboretum, said this is the first time they have been lit up and presented at night in a botanical garden setting. 

On Saturday, Nov. 15, from 5 to 7 p.m., and Sunday, Nov. 16, from 10 a.m. to noon, visitors can go on a guided tour of the exhibit. Heveri will be out at the arboretum, discussing and answering questions about her sculptures. 

Gray said that the sculptures blend in well with the plants and wildlife at the arboretum. 

“They look like stained glass, these beautiful metal sculptures of butterflies, dragonflies and bees. They’re just stunning… We thought they fit the arboretum really well… We have so many hummingbirds and butterflies here naturally… That’s what really attracted us to it was the fact that aesthetically, it really matched our scenery, but also it depicted all the wildlife that we have naturally… We felt with this focus on pollinators, it was just right up our alley,” Gray said. 

Gray said that the sculptures add to the experience for those who come out to the arboretum to hike. There are 5 miles of hiking trails at the arboretum, which are dog friendly. 

“We have a lot of beautiful, shaded trails in our eucalyptus forest and canyon areas. It’s a really nice, beautiful walk early in the morning here, and it’s a nice, safe walk,” Gray said. “As you head into fall, when it gets a little less hot, our main attraction is taking the big main trail all the way through, seeing the lake and then going back down to the canyon trail, exploring our large Wallace Desert Garden… In the fall, as we head towards November, we’re the only place in the Valley where you can see fall colors. Right around Thanksgiving week, typically the Chinese Pistache grove that we have on the canyon trail turns a spectacular yellow and orange. It looks just like fall on the East Coast.” 

Last winter, Heveri went up to the arboretum to get a sense of the best placement for the sculptures. 

“Sunlight is integral to the experience of glass because the sunlight illuminates the sculptures. All throughout the day, depending on where the sun is, there’ll be a different sculpture that’s illuminated,” Heveri said. 

The sculptures were transported to the arboretum in crates specifically designed for them. 

“Making the sculptures was one thing. Making the crates took the same amount of time,” Heveri said. 

The exhibit features more than 20 sculptures of butterflies, bees, flying ants, hummingbirds, praying mantises and beetles, along with a Monarch butterfly archway. 

These sculptures are made from Dalle de Verre glass and powder-coated steel. 

Heveri said that Dalle de Verre glass is traditionally used for church windows and not for outdoor sculptures. 

“It’s French for slab glass. The glass is an inch thick… It’s very rare. It’s super hard to get. When I cut it, I cut it with a wet tile saw. Then, I set it inside of the steel frame using a two-part Epoxy that’s made specifically for this glass. The glass, because of its thickness and the two-part Epoxy that I’m using, is outdoor durable,” Heveri said.  

For the arboretum exhibit, Heveri added several new sculptures, including a glass-winged butterfly and a waterlily with a dragonfly on top. 

Heveri said for her sculptures, such as the glass-winged butterfly, she does research beforehand on the insects. 

“I studied the actual butterfly in different images, as many images as I could find. They’re an interesting butterfly. You see them in Peru. They’re mostly clear, and they have some white in them and some amber. They’re beautiful. I really studied that butterfly. Then, I drew out the wings, the body and the legs,” Heveri said. 

“I had the hand drawing transferred to a CAD computer image and then had that cut out. Then, I assembled it together. I do all of the welding before I put the glass in. I paid very careful attention to the insect’s wing pattern. While I did take some artistic liberties making the exhibit, it was important to me to try to stay as true as I could to the insect within my limitations.” 

Heveri said details are important to making the insects look realistic. This is often challenging, as was the case when she was creating Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly sculptures. 

“Eastern Tiger Swallowtails are beautiful. They’re indigenous to Arizona…They were very fun butterflies to make because the space between the butterfly veins was as important as the shape of the butterfly,” Heveri said. 

Heveri said she often tries to make her sculptures stand out in some way. 

“I try to enhance my sculptures with wow factors, just by the color of glass that I choose, by powder coating the butterflies a sparkly color,” Heveri said. 

Heveri said the first Blue Morpho butterfly she created inspired her to go in a different direction with her glass artwork. 

“I didn’t work with a lot of blue glass before then. I preferred the fire colors of orange, red and yellow. Also, I didn’t make butterflies that were true to the insect until that time. I had made some butterflies that were abstract. The commission was a request that I make a Blue Morpho as true to a real Blue Morpho as possible. It turned out great. It was magical,” Heveri said. 

Heveri hopes with her exhibit to spread a larger message about the importance of pollinators on this planet. 

“By making larger-than-life sculptures of insects, I’m trying to foster entomophilia, which is a positive feeling in human beings towards insects… The current way to raise awareness of the importance of insects is to get human beings to at least understand that we need to coexist with insects for the benefit of the planet and for our own personal health,” Heveri said. 

Heveri has had an interest in insects and biodiversity since she was a kid growing up in New Mexico. 

“There were big, open fields. I literally spent every day, all my free time, wandering in the desert looking for insects, butterflies, lizards, snakes, tarantulas, walking sticks. I was fascinated by these things,” Heveri said. 

Heveri moved to Scottsdale when she was 11 years old. She attended the University of Arizona for law school and has lived in Tucson since then. 

As an artist, Heveri has worked in different mediums and styles, including doing portrait sculptures. She said her work is often abstract in nature. 

She has always been interested in art; from the time she was a kid playing with homemade Play-Doh. She moved on to doing sculptures and graphic arts when she got older. 

Heveri is constantly working, between her jobs as a lawyer and artist. She said both jobs have been very fulfilling for her. 

There was a time where she took a break from art when she was settling into law school and her career as a criminal defense lawyer. At age 30, she decided to start creating art again. 

“I jumped back in full-on. I bought this super small house. It was only house I could afford. I installed 220-volt electricity, and I taught myself to weld. Very shortly thereafter, I was introduced to this glass… When I was introduced to Dalle de Verre, I saw sculpture. I really jumped in. Thirty years later, here I am. For 30 years, I taught myself, improved, practiced and learned everything that I could about this particular glass, its durability and its use,” Heveri said. 

Alex Heveri’s “Glass in Flight” at Boyce Thompson Arboretum
WHEN: Daytime hours 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. Evening hours 5-10 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Through Friday, Jan. 30. 
WHERE: $24.95 for adults and teens 13-17, $10 for children 5 to 12, free for children 5 and under and members
INFO: btarboretum.org