Art & Ecology

Dylan McLaughlin, Songs of Tempestuous Rising and Falling (MFA ‘21)

Art & Ecology is an interdisciplinary, research-based academic program engaging contemporary art practices

Graduate and undergraduate students develop environmental and cultural literacy with a conceptual foundation and a wide range of production skills, including drawings, sculpture, social practice, performance, and digital media.

Advanced coursework includes RAVEL Lab (formerly Land Arts of the American West) which offers field-based Art & Ecology courses supporting the intersection of art, ecological research, and cultural engagement. RAVEL Lab is a creative community focused on regenerative practices and committed to situated biophilic and relational ecologies.

Brionna Garcia and Xena Gurule, RAVEL Lab, Agavaganza – Bats Without Borders, 2018.

Art & Ecology courses encourage students to investigate, question, and expand upon inter-relationships between cultural and ecological systems.

Our courses place emphasis on methods and tools from many disciplines—including art, design, humanities, sciences, activism, and traditional ecological knowledge—to foster collaborative and field-based research and art-making. We view art as an agent of analysis, critique, and radical change. Art & Ecology is committed to stimulating ideas, new forms of public engagement, aesthetic experience, and interdisciplinary practice.

Art & Ecology has established working relationships with many partners, including the Albuquerque Museum, Australia National University Bundian Way Arts Exchange, Bernalillo County Open Space, Borderlands Restoration Institute, Communities for Clean Water, HawkMoth Farm + Agroecology Center, Institute for Applied Ecology, Las Vegas Arts Council, LEAP Neo Rio, Santa Fe Art Institute, SeedBroadcast, Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research Site, Tewa Women United, Valle de Oro Wildlife Refuge

Art & Ecology currently also has active on-campus partnerships with the UNM Departments of Biology, American Studies, University Honors, Sustainability Studies, and the School of Architecture and Planning.

Select A&E Visiting Artists and Scholars: Brett Bloom, Alan Boldon, Asha Canalos, Raven Chacon, Center for Land Use Interpretation, William deBuys, FICTILIS, Alicia Inez Guzmán, Ruth Le Gear, Lucy Lippard, Jack Loeffler, Cannupa Hanska Luger, Candice Hopkins, Rashaad Newsome, Nils Norman, Erika Osborn, Ryan Pierce, Lucy Raven, Eric-Paul Riege, Teri Rueb, Christine Howard Sandoval, Alyce Santoro, Simparch, Buster Simpson, Carolyn Strauss, David Taylor, Diana Taylor, Chip Thomas, Syrus Marcus Ware, Nancy Zastudil

A&E Courses

The Art and Ecology curriculum prepares students to pursue various career avenues

art and ecology students working on a project in a field

Artist

Acquire and hone the skills necessary to successfully complete interdisciplinary and/or collaborative projects with museums, galleries, public/site-specific, community, and alternative contexts.

Educator

Acquire and hone skills to successfully lead classroom, field, and studio courses. Articulate ecological and aesthetic principles for students in formal educational settings as well as in alternative contexts like community workshops.