NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program

Photo Credit

Image courtesy of Michele Brody

 “Nature in Absentia” by Michele Brody, Artist in Residence, New York City, 2022.

Project Aims and Overview

Since 2016, the NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program, formerly known as the Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program, has been creating a community that:

• Brings together artists, scientists, practitioners, and communities.
• Engages with diverse communities to help people learn more about urban ecosystems and urban and community forests through art.
• Organizes events and programs for the public that explore the connections and new ideas that come from these collaborations.

The NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program is a place-based, community-centered, and virtual artist residency program created by the USDA Forest Service and The Nature of Cities. Through this program, artists work with land managers, researchers, and communities to explore ideas about urban and community forests, and the social and ecological systems related to them, through art and imagination.

The NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program has hosted many artists in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Springfield (MA), Chicago, Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Denver, Honolulu, Hebron, San Juan, and Santo Domingo. The Nature of Cities provides networking and administrative support to connect artists and locations and assists in content development.

You can find more information about the program, the artists, and their artwork at UFSArts.com.

To learn more about our partner, The Nature of Cities, visit their website at thenatureofcities.com.

Photo Credit

Image courtesy of Kilia Llano

Conexión,” Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, by Kilia Llano, Artist in Residence, Santo Domingo, 2021-2022. Murals connecting the migration path of Cape May Warblers to the communities through which they pass.

Creative Outcomes

Through these collaborations, scientists and artists:

• Discover new ideas together by blending creativity, imagination, science, and practice in projects like Nikki Lindt’s “Underground Sound Project”.
• Connect communities and residents with land managers and scientists in projects like Lize Mogel’s “Walking the Watershed."
• Create materials to involve communities, as with Katie Holten's “NYC Tree Alphabet”.
• Make sure that the voices of people who take care of our spaces are heard. Some examples are “Who Takes Cares of New York” exhibition, both virtual and at Queens Museum; Matthew López-Jensen’s “Tree Love”; and Aaron Terry & Amir Campbell’s “Seeding Newtopia”.

These outcomes build on the Forest Service’s long history of connecting with the public through print, media, and the arts. We are also exploring new ways to create cities where people and nature can thrive together, which is a core mission of The Nature of Cities.

For the most up-to-date creative outcomes, check out UFSArts.com.