Trees + Art Panel Discussion

Trees + Art Panel Discussion
Friday, September 6, 2024
A collaboration between Richard Levy Gallery, City of Albuquerque Parks and Rec, and Let's Plant ABQ in conjunction with the group exhibition Trees presented at Richard Levy Gallery.

Trees Artists, ecologists, landscape architects, and foresters in dialogue.

Artist: Daniel Ballesteros Based in the Bay area, Daniel has been photographing trees since he began using cameras 25 years ago. For the last 9 years he has been working on a series of Witness Trees using crime maps as his guide. Using these he travels to the sites of gun-related homicides to find his subjects.

Moderator: Katya Crawford Katya is a professor and the chair of UNM's Department of Landscape Architecture. She has lectured and exhibited her work both locally and internationally. Aside from teaching, her specific research interests center on landscape literacy, ephemeral landscape installations and social and environmental justice issues.

Expert: Anthony Fettes Anthony brings over fifteen years of global experience in habitat restoration, ecosystem monitoring, and landscape architecture. By drawing inspiration from the interconnected cultural and ecological narratives and challenges of place, his practice works to advance the regenerative aspects of design, working to create inspiring and healthy landscapes that bring people together and connect people to place.

Artist: Welly Fletcher Welly Fletcher’s work examines, and honors, body-based intelligence, grounded in materiality and prioritize a phenomenological experience. The sculptures antagonize our obsession with rational thought – an exceptionalism which has led to a culture with severe consequences for more-than-human lives and is tied to fabricated hierarchical divides within human kinship.

Expert: Sean O’Neil Sean is the City Forester with the Parks and Recreations Department (CABQ). Native to New Mexico, Sean's passion for the outdoors and natural resources was sparked by opportunities to participate in and conduct environmental research in the Bosque at a very early age. His experience as a research Biologist and Ecologist lead him to Municipal Forestry. Sean enjoys the work, challenges, problem-solving opportunities, and constant learning created by managing such a unique natural resource as the city's urban canopy.

Artist: Oliver Polzin Oliver is a naturalist and artist. He creates mystical landscapes as an exploration of animism and the human connection with the natural world and beyond. Oliver was a founding member of Meow Wolf art collective until he left in 2022 to focus on his own art practice. Polzin has shown at venues like 516 Arts in Albuquerque, NM, the Art Motel at Life is Beautiful Festival in Las Vegas, NV, and Materiality in Santa Fe, NM in addition to creating artist installations for Meow

Expert: Shelby Stimson Shelby is the Program Manager for SIG-NAL's Climate Resilient Cities program. She is a Co-Chair of the Arid LID Coalition, an interdisciplinary collective of practitioners and advocates working to advance green stormwater infrastructure practices. Shelby helped create the NM Climate Ready Trees List, and her work has contributed to urban forest planning, tree planting, bosque restoration, and community engagement in land and water stewardship. Shelby draws on her background as an environmental educator, an artist, and a naturalist to cultivate a holistic approach to the work.

Artist: J P 제피 J P 제피 has a transdisciplinary practice encompassing f iber, sculpture, installation, performance, sound, and community practice. Their work has been presented at the New Mexico Museum of Art, Louisiana Art and Science Museum and most recently in the inaugural exhibition, Shadow and Light, at the new Vladem Contemporary in Santa Fe.