Art Supporting Biodiversity in the West
Visual artist Robyn Holmes creates place-based paintings that explore relational webs at shifting scales. Holmes won second place in the Visual Art category.
If we were to boil our work down to one word, it might be this: life. From toadlets resting like little bubbles on a desert pond to elk bedded in long mountain shadows, the life around us is what colors our existence. Sure, plants, animals, insects, and landscapes sustain our own lives with what we need. But there is a deeper hum that draws humans to places and beings so different from us.
Volunteer Katie Figueroa pauses with a boreal toad before recording its characteristics. From our Boreal Toad Project to our other projects, our community shows up again and again in support of wildlife in the West. Photo by Sierra Hastings.
Over the past 27 years, our team and community have dedicated our work to the diversity of life that surrounds us. We’ve counted plump bumblebees and watched cougar eyes flicker in the light of our wildlife cameras. We’ve plunged our hands into cold streams to restore their vibrance. We’ve waited in the snow, bundled up with clipboards at the ready, for the hopeful pink flash of a rosy-finch. Individuals and groups of all kinds have joined us in this work supporting the well-being of wild lives in the face of habitat loss and changing climates. Through the power of community science, we’ve gotten to know species and places that need help, allowing our scientists and partners to plan for their conservation.
In deep partnership with this science-based approach, the artistic community in the West is doing the critical work of connecting human communities to their ecologies. Creative engagement with the many textures and lives around us allows all of us to face complex conservation issues with sincere hope, even in the face of mounting climate threats.
In celebration of the living world awakening for spring, we’re excited to honor the artists who received awards in our Western Biodiversity Challenge. Through their work, we reflect on the lives and places that constitute the reason we do what we do. We believe that future generations deserve to experience this wild diversity of existence, and that life itself deserves to continue.
Join our team in learning from these talented artists and celebrating biodiversity, or the variety of life around us.
Visual Arts
First Place: Caro Nilsson, “Hillside Bison”
Hillside Bison, by Caro Nilsson. This piece won first place in the Visual Arts category.
Can you tell us about this piece?
Caro Nilsson, standing in front of an exhibition of her work. Photo courtesy Caro Nilsson.
Hillside Bison is a drawing that to me feels like gratitude. Witnessing bison in the American West is an experience that feels outside of time, they feel eternal. As they move through the lupine of alpine summer, we remember that we are intrinsically tied to ecosystems and seasons the way that they are. We can think about caring for our family and communities in the language of humans, or we can remember that our communities extend far beyond our people neighbors. Our communities are the snowmelt flowers of summertime, the bison and their babies, the Great Salt Lake, the tributaries that feed it. May we notice and celebrate the continual presence of magnificent things.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice?
I like to think about all of the work that I make as a portal into noticing. It is easy to be a human and forget that we are a small part of a vast and alive ecosystem, and through my art I remember. We can recognize that we are on a spinning planet in space where the most beautiful things you can imagine are happening, and we can be active participants. When I move through a landscape, I am in conversation with it about belonging. I listen as hard as I can to the rhythms, and the aliveness, the cycling through different seasons. At its heart, my work is about a personal relationship with landscapes, and all of the human and non-human presences within them.
Connect with Caro at carozobservations.com or on instagram at @caroznilsson.
Second Place: Robyn Holmes, Untitled
Untitled, by Robyn Holmes. This piece won second place in the Visual Arts category.
Can you tell us about this piece?
This piece was inspired by my experiences doing fieldwork in Great Basin streams and wetlands. I wanted to show how beavers create unique habitats and greater diversity in habitat at both large and small scales.
I just realized I did not include a beaver in this painting! I like to work with negative space in my art. If you want to get symbolic, you could say this painting shows the negative space around beaver. That was not planned, but it really does align with my experiences observing beavers. It’s rare to see beavers, but once you know the signs, it’s easy to tell when they’re in the area.
What does biodiversity mean to you?
When I think of biodiversity, I think about scale. How big landscape-level communities are made up of small individuals and how small individuals are influenced by the broader community of organisms as well as other large-scale factors like geology and climate, forming a relational web that is fascinating whether you're looking at a huge mountain or a tiny insect. Each organism does what it does best, and since they’re all taking care of different things, there’s more resilience as a community.
What is your artistic practice like?
Most of the time, I paint outside, often stopping mid-hike or wherever I see an exciting view. I often notice colors and textures that I might otherwise have missed had I not stopped to be still and record what's around me. Through the act of deeper noticing, I can’t help but feel gratitude for the beauty and organisms we get to share this planet with. It’s challenging to paint a scene while the light is changing, but that’s also a big part of what keeps it fun and engaging for me. Place-based paintings are also fun because looking back at them brings me back to a specific time and place.
This painting was a different experience, spending a few weeks thinking about how I wanted to show biodiversity through art before making a painting that pulled from dozens of memories from poking around in streams and beaver ponds.
Connect with Robyn at watercyclecolors.com or on Instagram @water.cycle.colors.
Third Place: Sarah Baldwin, Untitled
Untitled, by Sarah Baldwin. This piece won third place in the Visual Art category.
Photo courtesy Sarah Baldwin.
Can you tell us about this piece?
I wanted to showcase the sensitive or threatened species that I have been able to work with in my career in a visually appealing way. I really love collages and this was a fun way for me to combine these!
How does art connect to biodiversity?
Art, to me, is one of the best ways to convey important messages. It comes in all sorts of mediums, which means it can speak to a huge swath of people, in whatever way they best understand.
Biodiversity is a hugely essential element to a functioning ecosystem that is easily overlooked. Finding ways to bring it to people's minds in a memorable way feels like a great way to work on that.
Dance
First Place: Lorin Hansen, “Return Dance Project”
Can you tell us about your piece?
My piece is a personal movement study captured on film. I was exploring dance movements that could be used in native and restorative seed casting. The goal behind this movement study is realize ways we can restore degraded land together as a community, utilizing the artistry of dance and the power of restorative planting to heal ourselves and the land.
What does biodiversity mean to you?
Biodiversity to me means joy and personal wellbeing; the more plants and animals I see around me, the more joyful and healthy I feel.
Why is art important in the project encouraging biodiversity?
Dance is my intuitive way of processing strong emotions and communicating information. My personal longing to return to the land inspired this project, and I have been an artist and performer my whole life, so I think that’s just where my intuition went - I started to ask, can I make art that heals the land? Can a dance performance create biodiversity, plant a forest, heal a riverbank?...
Photos courtesy Lorin Hansen.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice? Are there ways it connects with the natural world?
My dance practice is rooted in the fact that the Earth is a sacred and sentient being, as am I. When I dance barefoot with the land, it is an acknowledgment that I am part of the Earth, and a practice in feeling embraced. After a lifetime of dancing in studios, imagining the sky overhead and the Earth underfoot, I now make it a personal practice to dance with the land, connecting my body with natural forces and elements in an effort to cultivate connection. I dance with my feet on the Earth and my hands in the soil, exploring ways in which planting can be a dance, and dance can aid in planting and healing.
I have studied Brazilian Samba and Afro-Brazilian dance and percussion for the last 20 years - a dance tradition that acknowledges that when we dance, we are speaking with the land, and conversing with our ancestors, through our feet. This dance tradition inspires me to dance with my feet on the Earth, and teaches me how to connect my body to the natural. I was born in Utah. The Brazilian dance tradition took me across the globe to study a dance language that is in relationship with the natural world. This dance language is now bringing me home, to dance in relationship with the sacred, stolen, sentient land I was born to, as were six generations of ancestors before me.
You can connect with Lorin and Return Dance Project on Instagram, Facebook, or on this website.
Photography
First Place: Hayley Haws, “Fading Winter Range”
Fading Winter Range, by Hayley Haws. This piece won first place in the Photography category.
Can you tell us about your piece?
Photo courtesy Hayley Haws.
I took this photo to remember this spot that has been used for years as a winter range for a herd of elk, but has now been zoned for housing. Someday soon, these elk will show up to a construction site and have no where to winter without expending a lot of precious energy. I wanted to capture what this land provided for wildlife before it was turned into a neighborhood.
What does biodiversity mean to you, and how does it connect to art?
Biodiversity means a healthy landscape to me. Healthy for the wildlife and plants and healthy for us humans who get to witness it.
With wildlife, humans need to avoid interaction beyond viewing at a distance. However, with art, we can express the feelings we have without putting the animal into danger. In this way, I feel like art bridges the distance we have to keep with the admiration we feel for the natural world.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice with the natural world?
I don’t consider myself a wildlife photographer. Instead, I would say I take nature photos and get the opportunity to encounter wildlife while doing that. With this mindset, I can feel at peace with however an animal shows up. I feel connected to the natural world with this because I’m seeing nature as it really is versus trying to pressure animals to fit the criteria of a good photo or a noteworthy experience.
Second Place: Ellen Moffatt, “In Sync”
In Sync, by Ellen Moffatt. This piece won second place in the Photography category.
Ellen Moffatt looks for wildlife in wetlands. Photo courtesy Ellen Moffatt.
Can you tell us about your piece?
This photo was taken in Bryce Canyon. I had just finished a short hike and not seen much wildlife to photograph, when two gorgeous raven couples appeared, flying in pairs. Watching them dip and dive and soar was ecstasy, and after quickly switching camera lenses to my “bird” lens, I was thrilled to take images of them flying so close to each other, and so close to me. I call this photo “In Sync” because the couple seemed completely in tune with the other as they flew. Overall it was incredibly romantic to witness.
Why is art important in the project encouraging biodiversity?
Biodiversity to me is a sign of health in any system, and brings me so much pleasure to see and experience. It’s sad to remember how much biodiversity we’ve lost globally. I hope to see as much biodiversity as I can in my lifetime.
To me, art is important in the project encouraging biodiversity because it facilitates connection. It helps me articulate to my friends why I care so much about birds and nature reserves and wild places in a very visual way.
I motivate my artistic practice with an annual event where I share my best pieces with friends and family. In committing to myself to create something beautiful, I remember to take the time to find it. For me it’s about getting out in nature with my camera and just trying to see what I can see.
Connect with Ellen at studiozelkova.com.
Third Place: Angie Hatch, “Seed Wisps”
Seed Wisps, by Angie Hatch. This piece won third place in the Photography category.
From the Artist:
This photo was taken during a November hike in the Wasatch mountains with my two sons during which they took an interest in photographing small things. Together we examined the texture of rocks and tree bark, insects and dew drops. We talked about what the smell and feel of the air tells you about the place you are in. It has been a true joy to introduce them to this magical, diverse landscape that is so much a part of me.
Photo courtesy Angie Hatch.
Photo courtesy Angie Hatch.
I believe it is vital to understand the interconnectedness of everything in our world, and that our own ability to survive and thrive is linked to the delicate balance of the natural systems we are part of. I hope that my photography can transmit feelings of awe and respect for the natural world. I'm grateful to be able to utilize my art to support conservation organizations, like Sageland Collaborative, in their important mission.
Connect with Angie on Instagram at @angiehatchphoto.
Writing
First Place: Rachel White, “Crossbill at Baker Spring”
Crossbill at Baker Spring, by Rachel White. This piece won first place in the Writing category.
Can you tell us about your piece?
This poem is about a hike with my best friend of 33 years, in Millcreek Canyon up to the top of Gobbler's Knob. From there, on a clear day, you can see Pilot Peak in Nevada.
What does biodiversity mean to you?
Photo courtesy Rachel White.
Human beings are part of the miraculous web of living things, all connected in ways we are barely beginning to understand. Our actions as creatures at the top of the food chain ripple outward in all directions, affecting everything. If we can reduce our footprint and consumption, leaving space and resources for other creatures to flourish, that supports our own well-being. I am blessed to live in a place with a rich history of Indigenous people who have deep knowledge of the Great Basin and how to live in harmony with this environment. I would like to see more Native people in positions of leadership where they can share their wisdom and lead us to better choices, such as steady-state, rather than never-ending-growth economies.
Why is art important in the project encouraging biodiversity?
I am a believer in the power of art—especially visual arts and film, that have an immediate impact on people's emotions. Beauty that provokes emotion can win people over in ways that no argument ever will.
Connect with Rachel at rachelwhitepoetry.org.
Second Place: Aubrey Schuring, “Moab in the Spring”
I returned to Moab in the Spring, by Aubrey Schuring. This piece won second place in the Writing category.
Can you tell us about your piece?
I wrote this piece while visiting Moab in early spring. At the time I was feeling uncertain of my future and isolated from myself and most everything else. Hiking Millcreek Canyon alone with the sunrise one morning, I followed the end of the trail to a waterhole where I watched a mother sparrow feed her babies; little screaming bursts of feathers tucked in along the canyon wall above the water. I felt so incredibly lucky to have witnessed what to me felt both so magical and so small and so real. It was a grounding reminder of the peace and sense of wholeness I find in the freedom of nature.
What does biodiversity mean to you?
Biodiversity means real-life and inter-connected living; I think of the difference it makes leaving the city or suburbia to explore the canyons or visit an old forest. It feels so much more whole and present and alive. Sometimes I wonder how different our world here in the West would look if our ancestors and current leaders would listen to other cultures and other species.
Photo courtesy Aubrey Schuring.
Photo courtesy Aubrey Schuring.
Why is art important in the project encouraging biodiversity?
I think art is important in the project encouraging biodiversity because art helps us return to the emotional connection we have with nature. Whether it is through remembering our connection, mourning for the loss of so much biodiversity, or celebrating the land and its beings around us. I think art helps us remember we are nature.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice and how it connects to the natural world?
My artistic practice is completely connected to my experiences and desires to remember my place in the natural world. I free-write every morning and my most fulfilling scribbles are the ones I write while sitting out in the yard with my dog, feeling the morning sun on my skin and listening to the birds sing their good mornings. When it comes to more intentional writing, I find most of my lines or themes while hiking or exploring outdoors regardless of the subject I’m writing on. I don’t know how else to say it except that my heart does not feel fully open and creative without placing myself in natural spaces.
Connect with Aubrey on Instagram.
Third Place: Susannah Woodbury, “Desert Ledges”
Desert Ledges, by Susannah Woodbury. This piece won third place in the Writing Category.
Can you tell us about your piece?
My piece was written during a time I was having a major inner change and evolvement of myself. I don't think it could have happened without spending time in the wide open red desert by myself. The landscape taught me to deeply reflect inward and to discover who I really was, not what my upbringing taught me I needed to be. At the time, I was reading Women Who Run with Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. I was thinking a lot about how badly I wanted to be free like a wolf. I wondered at what point could my inner self have gone extinct, like the wolf who almost went extinct in the lower 48 states.
Susannah doing one of her favorite activities: mountain biking.
Susannah examines a rotting leaf in an Ecuadorian cloud forest.
What does biodiversity mean to you?
To me, biodiversity means living in reciprocity with all the living around us, so we can help each other survive and thrive. I think that we have forgotten that we are all connected as one, not seperate. I think it is vital for us to all rebuild community with each other, and the more than human.
You can connect with Susannah on Instagram.
Susannah is related to one of the judges of this contest. See the note on our process at the bottom of this article for more information about how entries were judged.
Textile & Multimedia Arts
First Place: Jessica Kemper, “The Big Nothing”
The Big Nothing, by Jessica Kemper. This piece won first place in the Textile & Multimedia Arts category.
Can you tell us about your piece?
"The Big Nothing" is still my favorite piece to date. I have been embroidering for 3 years now and I have never felt as strong of a connection with something I have made. While I was working at Tracy Aviary almost 8 years ago, I participated in a program that allowed me to focus on a conservation project outside of my usual work as a horticulturist. My project was working with Sageland Collaborative to find what research had been done on greater sage- grouse chicks diets. I was probably not qualified, and what I wrote for the report was probably questionable, but it really had an impact on me. Something I took away from that experience was reading that politicians, developers, etc. would refer to sagebrush steppe habitat as "the big nothing" aka wasteland, non-productive, barren. This obviously upset me because I was just reading how baby and adult sage-grouse needed that habitat to survive. It turns out there are a ton of species that utilize sagebrush steppe habitat and it's rapidly being fragmented and disappearing. So years later when I wanted my art to also mean activism, this popped into my head and inspired instantly. "The Big Nothing" features four iconic species that rely on sagebrush habitat, and are far from being nothing.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice? How does it connect with the natural world?
What started as a fun hobby quickly turned into an outlet for my eco-grief. I studied environmental studies in college, along with horticulture, and many of the classes had absolutely dismal outcomes for our planet. I worked as a sustainability professional for many years following and was constantly berated with news updates, reports, findings, all telling us that things are looking bleak. There are many visions of hope as well, but it's impossible to not feel that weight from time to time, or for me at that point in my life, all of the time. So, I turned to art.
Photo courtesy Jessica Kemper.
Photo courtesy Jessica Kemper.
There are so many aspects of loving the natural world, being "outdoorsy", granola, whatever you want to call it. You can bag peaks, rock climb, enjoy walks around your neighborhood, car camp, backpack, simply enjoy the fall leaf colors. They are all valid. For me, the most exciting endeavor in nature is seeing wildlife. I've cried watching california condors soar above, to jumping excitedly on the beach after figuring out what a gumboot chiton was. Seeing a vibrant red northern cardinal out my bedroom window for the first time in years after moving to Georgia. Many of these experiences have been breathtaking for me, and are some of my favorite memories. To pay homage to the species that have given me so much joy, I embroider them. To bring awareness to the effects of climate change on these beloved species, I embroider them. It often takes hours for me to stitch just one piece, and it always feels worth it. And while I savor the creation of each and every piece, it's just the beginning. To watch someone's face light up at the sight of my work and say "I've got a story about those too" is such a genuinely rewarding experience. It is an honor whenever someone shares their story with me, and together, through art, storytelling, and community we can work towards a more sustainable future that includes all species.
You can connect with Jessica at www.fieldguideembroidery.com or on Instagram at @fieldguideembroidery.
Second Place: Sarah Schlaefke & Ashley Chase, “Passerine”
Passerine, by Sarah Schlaefke and Ashley Chase. This piece won second place in the Textile & Multimedia Arts category.
Artist Statement: Alpenglow Reflections and Offkey Art collaborated to create a windchime celebrating the black rosy-finch. Alpenglow’s Ashley Chase burned and carved the centerpiece finch while Offkey Art’s Sarah Schlaefke constructed the ceramic and upcycled pieces surrounding the bird. The team chose the black rosy-finch because they too spend time in the finch’s precious alpine habitat. The goal is to bring awareness to this bird and their habitat loss driven by climate change. Hopefully, this piece inspires viewers to admire and take steps to protect the species and its home, the breathtaking Wasatch Range. This piece’s media consists of upcycled and repurposed glass, wood, twine, and metal.
Third Place: Mac McIntosh, “Turret Arch through North Window Arch”
Turret Arch through North Window Arch, by Mach McIntosh. This piece won third place in the Textile & Multimedia Arts category.
What does biodiversity mean to you?
Biodiversity to me, means the health of an ecosystem whether that be human or animal, flora or fauna. Biodiversity is seeing the small things like tiny lichens growing on granite rock, or rabbitbrush beetles going through life stage on a rabbitbrush plant. Seeing all those things happen on the micro level, while also seeing the larger picture. The larger picture being the way climate change is affecting our earth, overuse of natural resources are causing things like the great salt lake to dry up, or seeing how the forest fire season has become longer. Biodiversity to me, means paying attention to what is happening in our everyday life that affects the natural world around us. The politicians we vote for, the people we surround ourselves with, the jobs we work at, are all a part of our own biodiversity. Biodiversity is important for the health of the ecosystem not just in the forest, but also in your life. Just like if you remove a keystone species from the food chain and it collapses, if you surround yourself with an echo chamber, your own mental or ethical food chain could collapse. But a beautiful thing about ecosystems with biodiversity, is that they are constantly showing us relationships that have evolved, to grow, learn, adapt and change.
Mac wears a hand-embroidered hat.
Mac releases a Great Horned Owl as part of a wildlife rehabilitation center effort. Photo credit: Patrick Barron of Blue Barron Photo.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice? Are there ways it connects with the natural world?
My artistic practice has always been inspired by and connected to the natural world. Previously in my embroidery work, I worked on landscapes with correlated flora and only occasionally, fauna. I created many dusty desert scenes or chilly mountainscapes. Most of these were inspired by my own experiences, or for custom pieces, bonding with a customer over their experience of a place that means a lot to them. My pieces were/are meant to be like a wearable journal entry, that you can wrap around yourself or sew onto something, to take on your next adventure.
Last year, my journey brought me back to my roots, working with animals. I started by doing a wildlife medicine internship that turned into becoming a wildlife care specialist and education coordinator at a wildlife rehabilitation hospital. I've had the opportunity to work with many species of injured birds and mammals as they pass through the hospital. As animals come through, I am often looking up facts about their natural history to help give them the best care, or facts about their environment to make sure they have proper enclosures. I'm constantly impressed by the resilience of wildlife and how they are able to heal from many human caused injuries. This work has inspired my embroidery so much, just learning more about animals and their relationship to their ecosystem. It has sparked my passion more, and shifted my embroidery a little more in a direction I'm really proud of, science education through art.
You can connect with Mac here: https://www.outdoorcommune.com/collections/trail-stitching-co
Thank You
We were deeply moved by the work of all the artists who submitted. Through your process and work, you support a rich, colorful, textured biodiversity in the American West and do the critical work of connecting communities to conservation spaces.
Look for your work in our coming reports, platforms, and communications. May you keep filling western landscapes with your unique perspectives!
A note on the judging process:
The judging process involved the Sageland Collaborative communications team (photographer and poet/performance artist) as well as two outside judges (multi-disciplinary artist and ballet dancer). Each judge independently ranked entries, which were de-identified. These combined rankings resulted in the selections you see here. Thank you to all who submitted!
Article by Sarah Woodbury.