Members of the Boys & Girls Club of St. Joseph County, Indiana, prepare for the 2004 Transit of Venus by drawing their interpretations of Venus straddling the sun.  Guidance and support by Kathi Gill, shown in orange shirt.

 

   More artwork samples...

Read more: Art From Boys & Girls Club

Within the Paris Observatory is a dome painted in 1886 in recognition of the Transit of Venus. The artwork is magnificent.  Click on a thumbnail below to zoom to a high-resolution image. Images courtesy of Debra Lazar.

Astronomy educator Don Tuttle of Elgin, IL, created the quilt Transit Time for the 2004 transit of Venus.  A talented and prolific quilt maker, he described the process at a talk (.mp3 audio recording, 7 minutes) presented in the planetarium of the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences in Peoria, IL, in 2004.

Abstract: Enticing by virtue of its predictability, historical utility, and spectacle, the transit of Venus is a niche event among astronomical phenomena. Though the value of a transit for scientific purposes is now diminished, the brief appearance of Venus silhouetted against the background of the Sun in 2004 moved the artistic community to celebrate the rare alignment. Artists of all ages combined old traditions with fresh technology to create a 21st century tapestry of music, sculpture, paintings, glasswork, quilts, sky shows, and digital imagery. A full catalog of transit-related art generated over the centuries would feature the sampling of entries presented here.

Read more: Moved by a Rapid Transit (with thumbnails)

The Croston Carvers honored Jeremiah Horrocks in 2004 with a new sandstone monument that sits on a site between the village of Bretherton and Carr House, where Jeremiah Horrocks likely made his historic observation.

Mark Farrar, one of the Croston Carvers, wrote in 2004, "I’ve been intrigued by the story for a number of years.  Horrocks' story is an inspirational one.  He was very young and working with home made instruments.  Rushing back from his work as a curate he had short time on a November Sunday to make his observations.  Hopefully this transit will help more people learn about his remarkable story."

Croston Carvers have taught themselves the ancient skills of stone carving and completed a number of commissions.  The group formed to create a millennium milestone which now sits on Croston Village Green.

Kath Almond, local Parish Councillor and member of group, notes, "We are local people who find a lot of satisfaction in creating something permanent.  It started with the millennium stone and we had so many ideas that we just carried on. Doing a stone for Horrocks has been an idea we’ve had since the start."