Swale, Wicked Monstrous

Last month we featured a header image of the destructive flooding in Nepal from glacial melting. Today, epic flooding has come to the Southwest after months of severe drought, and a high-impact "nor'easters" happened for a second time this year. The extremes are notable and are not a good sign. The damage that flooding causes and the temporary relief from drought is just that, temporary. We are living in unpredictable times. What is it going to take to return to a state of ecological balance? How can we accept this as our new normal for the indefinite future?

This month we will be wrapping up our 2026 programs at Swale House on Governors Island in New York City. The final exhibition is a gathering for Tears, Teas and Tides. Also, The Soil Shroud Room, which is now closed, has plans to travel to Norway next spring (more details to come). see below 

Our invitation to pre-order Wicked Monstrous, which launched a couple weeks ago, is a special edition short run of 150 books, including 70 of the 130 artists selected for our annual publication. If you enjoy well designed books and yummy paper with a unique 100% upcycled single-use plastic fabric cover, featuring artists focused on plastics, act soon! 

Art and the Environment IS Political, RESIST!!!

Patricia Watts, founder/curator

exhibitions

ecoartspace

@SwaleHouse

Governors Island, NYC

Nolan Park, 6b

October Exhibition

WANDERING WATER: TEARS, TEAS AND TIDES

OPENING RECEPTION AND PERFORMANCE

Saturday, October 3, 2 to 6pm, Reading 4pm

Through October 25, 2026

Wandering Water brings together Lauren Bon, Betsy Damon, and Mary Mattingly, artists whose practices have long engaged water as material, system, and living relation. Bon intervenes in landscapes and infrastructure, redirecting water toward ecological and civic possibility. Damon reveals water as the foundation and creative agent of life, working to restore damaged water systems. Mattingly examines how human lives are entangled with water, materials, and extractive economies. All three work closely with communities, modeling water’s vast creative powers.

On October 3, the artists gather for Tears, Teas and Tides, a reading for three voices beginning with the shared passage by water from the boroughs to Governors Island. Calling in oysters, sturgeon, eels, horseshoe crabs, seals, cormorants, and whales, the reading acknowledges Paggank and the much older histories of these lands and waters. Moving between 1776 and the present, it asks what happens when empire, property, deeds, and proclamation encounter a body that refuses to remain fixed: the tide.

Come draw water, listen to water, cry with us, have tea, experience our waste-composting system, or have your feet washed.

in-person event 2027

Ghost Ranch 

g a t h e r i n g

October 10-14, 2027 register now

A deposit has been made, and plans are underway for our first-ever art and ecology gathering to provide in-person experiences for our members. From October 10-14, 2027, for four days and four nights, participants will be immersed in thoughtful engagements in the Land of Enchantment at Ghost Ranch near Abiquiú, New Mexico.

The ranch can accommodate approximately 150-170 overnight guests if we can "double up" in rooms with two beds. We are trying to make this gathering affordable and will offer scholarships. Reservations for rooms will become available soon. look for separate email

We encourage you to register for this "professional development" experience as soon as possible at the link below. We will be accepting the first approximately 150 registrants (currently at 50). There are no cancellations, but you can transfer your registration to another member if needed.

Email info@ecoartspace.org if you have any questions, would like to request a scholarship, need a roommate, etc.

This event is for members only. Accommodations and food will be purchased separately through Ghost Ranch. 

upcoming book

Wicked Monstrous  

Pre-order special edition now!

print on demand and online coming november 2026

Print-on-demand & online: 130 artists l Special Edition:70 artists (in bold)

Aindreas Scholz, Alanna Baird, Alejandro Duran, Alicia Escott, Amanda Thackray, Andrea Polli, Ann Savageau, Anna Mein, Anne-Katrin Spiess, Annette Nykiel, Ashton Phillips, Barbara Cooper, Barbara Lubliner, Bee (Beverly) Naidus, Belén Millán, Benjamin Von Wong, Beth Bando, Beth Shepherd, Bethany Taylor, Bev J Elgar, Blue McRight, Bryan Northup, Calder Kamin, Carol Sogard, Carolien Adriaansche, Caroline MacMoran, Charity Ridpath, Charlotte Bastian, Christine Mackey, Christy Rupp, Cindy Pease Roe, Clare Thomas, Colette Copeland, Constance Mallinson, Constance Old, Cynthia Minet, David Ellingsen, Dawn Stetzel, Deanna Pindell, Devan Horton, Diedra Krieger, Duke Riley, E Tyler Burton,  Elisabeth Condon, Elise Marks Vazelakis, Elizabeth McAlpin, Ellen Driscoll, Emma Akmakdjian, Eurhi Jones, Faith Bebbington, Felipe Andrés Piedra, Francesca Busca, Griffith Aaron Baker, Heather Law, Heidi Dauphin, Hollis Hammonds, Ian Trask, Janine Brown, Jemma Woolmore, Jennifer Kotter, Johanna Törnqvist, John Melvin, Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang, Kalliopi Monoyios, Karen Hackenberg, Kat Kazlauskas, Katharine A. Owens, Kate Dodd, Katharine Harvey, Kathleen King, Kathryn Frund, Katy Rodden Walker, Kelsey Merreck Wagner, Kelly Marie O'Brien, Kim Bernard, Laura Nova, Laurie Riccadonna, Leah Dalton, Leah Mata Fragua (above), Leticia Bajuyo, Liina Klauss, Luba Zygarewicz, Lynn Cazabon, Margaret Smithers-Crump, Marguerite Perret, Martha Lewis, Megan Wong, Minal Mistry, Moffat Takadiwa, Monique Martin, Natalya Khorover, Nicole Cooper, Nicole Dextras, Nicole Hixon, Niki Lederer, Ogwado Joachim, Pam Longobardi, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Pauline Galiana, Pierre Leichner, Portia Munson, Posey (Pamela) Moulton, Rebecca McGee Tuck, Reenie Charriere, Riva Weinstein, Robert Lach, Ruth Peche, Ruth Tabancay, Sandra Suubi, Sara Mast, Sarah Knobel, Sarah Umles, Sari Nordman, Sayaka Ganz, Scott Bluedorn, Serge Attukwei Clottey, Shani Nottingham, Steve McPherson, STUDIOKCA, Swapna Namboodiri, Taina Litwak, Tara de la Garza, Toby Zallman, Tom Jones, TOMO, Tracy Penn, Twyla Exner, Virginia Katz, Wiebke Schroeder, Yevgenia Davidoff, Zelda Zinn 

blog post

Judith Modrak at Stuyvesant Park 2026, interview with the artist and call for artists

featured exhibition

sequesterings

This is the first time instead of featuring a single artist we are highlighting an exhibition including ten of our members titled Sequesterings, with artists who utilize discarded materials to explore the intersections of art, environmental activism, and human impact on nature. Co-curated by Aurora Robson, including Anna Meins, Twyla Exner, Calder Kamin, Natalya Khorover, Blue McRight, Kelsey Merreck Wagner, Pamela "Posey Moulton, Portia Munson and Ian Trask, at the Center for Visual Art in Denver, Colorado. Through October 24, 2026. sequesterings

store

Soils Turn PREORDERS 

We are now taking orders for the second 100 in the Second edition (300). Once we hit 50, we will go to print, probably by November/December, and deliver January/February. 

Soils Turn is viewable online via ISSUU here.

Go to store

announcements

Environmental Art Grant given by Anonymous Was a Woman was recently awarded to Emma Akmakdjian for her project The Marine Debris Waste Stream: Past and Present Fishing Practices of the Northern Channel Islands, in collaboration with Kelp Kulture, The Santa Rosa Island Research Station, and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, and whose work is also included in the upcoming ecoartspace publications Wicked Monstrous (2026) and Water World (2027). Congrats! above

Psychotherapy for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Transcending Differences is a new book that includes Economies of Scale on the cover by Pamela Longobardi, made with vagrant ocean plastic from the world ocean, mounted on steel, 225" in length.

Injection Site is a recent publication and special edition book documenting the arms recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine with a special heat camera that creates themographic images as documented by Linda Alterwitz, with essay by Leah Ollman, published by MW Editions, New York City.  

PO Box 5211, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502