The Arboretum plans to host a four-month Artist Residency Program for one local Native American artist from Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota, beginning June 1 to October 1, 2026, providing an opportunity to explore artistic ideas that highlight themes of nature and landscapes.
Art and artists at the Arboretum serve as vital portals to understanding our deep interdependence with the environment. Through the lens of traditional ecological knowledge, art becomes a way to reconnect with the land, revealing the stories, histories, and relationships embedded in our landscapes. It fosters a sense of stewardship, sparks dialogue around pressing societal challenges, and helps us see ourselves—and one another—more clearly within the web of life. These creative expressions illuminate the interwoven relationships between people and place, encouraging a more thoughtful and reciprocal engagement with the natural world.
GOAL: The tradition of creating art within natural landscapes spans millennia. Contemporary American Indian artists and cultural bearers continue to carry this legacy forward, expressing it through Native art rooted in land-based practices across the country. The Arboretum’s Artist-in-Residence Program fosters meaningful engagement among the artist, the Arboretum, and its visitors—using art as a lens to deepen understanding of our connection to nature and the landscape.
OUTCOME: Immerse visitors in the environment through the traditional ecological knowledge of Native American people.
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