Swale, Eco-Art course online, Wicked Monstrous

This summer it's wildfires in Spain, Portugal, and Canada, and the drifting smoke that has hit several major cities. July has been a hot month for most of us and an overly wet one for others, the extremes. But what we all need to keep an eye on is the nighttime temperatures that are rising globally, often increasing faster than daytime highs. This trapped heat prevents recovery and disrupts human sleep patterns. Lack of night cooling increases heart stress, illness risks, and mortality, bringing a sharp increase in emergency room visits for dehydration and mental health disorders as well. Let's stay safe out there!

For August, we have four exhibitions and two residencies scheduled at Swale House on Governors Island in New York City, including a soil shroud sewing session and a soil animation program in the Soil Shroud Room. see below 

In October we will dive into our ninth online Sustain(ability) & the Art Studio course, with a new focus on solidarity in eco-art activism. Over 130 of our members have participated in these courses and have developed new research and projects, as well as collaborations. It's important to stay in community around new developments in your practice, especially during these stressful times. see below 

Our upcoming book Wicked Monstrous is now in full design mode, selecting paper, fonts, etc. There will be two printed books this year, one that will be affordable, including 130 artists, and the other (more expensive), including 70 of the 130 artists. We will launch on November 1, with print-on-demand and online versions, and will start taking pre-orders in September for the special edition. see below 

Hope you all made it through July safely....

Patricia Watts, founder/curator

Header Image: Maximilien Lamy, Plage de Moutchic, Lacanau, South-West France. Holidaymakers trapped by the fire. 24 July 2026.

online course

Online Course for Members

October 24, 2026 - January 2, 2027

Sustain(ability) & the Art Studio: Environmental Justice

DEADLINE October 1, 2026

This course will help artists integrate a solidarity-oriented approach to their creative practice, as we address the significance of intersectional thinking within repressive structures. We will cover topics such as environmental justice, decolonial praxis, and food sovereignty, (among others) to understand the impacts of globalization on people and the environment. As we study these topics alongside the function of art in cultural production, participants will be invited to attune to their surroundings through collaboration, advocacy, contribution, or invocation in their own eco-art practice. No prior understanding is required. 

This online course is taught by Anna Chapman with guest artists Juan William Chávez, and Beverly Naidus.

Email info@ecoartspace.org for more information

exhibitions

ecoartspace

@SwaleHouse

Governors Island, NYC

Nolan Park, 6b

August Exhibitions/Residencies

• Through August 23: Marina Heron Tsaplina residency (weaving workshops)
• Through August 23: Elie Porter Trubert Call and Response exhibition
  
• Through August 23: Katrina Bello Expansion exhibition
• August 24–September 13: Kosmologym (Walker Tufts with collaborator Greg Stewart) exhibition
• August 29: Pop-up exhibition with Jeremy Dennis, and conversation with Dr. Lara Evans at 3pm EDT

Soil Shroud Room Programs

Friday, August 7, 6-8pm 

Textile Burial and Crip Stitch Sewing Workshop with Marina Heron  Tsaplina, leave visible scars on cloth to honor disabled soils harmed by industrial extraction

Saturday, August 8, 2-4pm

Animated Soil Workshop with Cindy Stockton Moore, explore underground motion through hands-on animation techniques RSVP

upcoming book

Wicked Monstrous  

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-Andres 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 K. 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, Leticia Bajuyo, Liina Klauss, Luba Zygarewicz, Lynn Cazabon, Margaret Smithers-Crump, Marguerite Perret, Martha Lewis, Megan Wong, Minal Mistry, Moffat Takadiwa (above), Monique Martin, Natalya Khorover, Nicole Cooper, Nicole Dextras, Nicole Hixon, Niki Lederer, Ogwado Joachim, Pamela 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

Fostering Underlife Gardens through Image: Cindy Stockton Moore on her work as a naturalist animator and her upcoming workshop @SWALE on Governors Island in New York City, interview with Olivia Ann Carye Hallstein

featured artist

andrea polli

Air contains essences of place, feeling and tasting distinctly differently in varied geographies. My work has focused on air using animations and objects imagining the shape of air in two ways: Firstly, through computational mapping of sound spectrograms, animating, 3d printing and casting resulting shapes in blown glass and other materials. Secondly, through examining materials chemistry including biochemistry to create new forms and unexpected material responses, for example creating porous foam glass shapes using chemical catalysts and growing crystals and mycelium on rubbers and plastics. I examine theories and myths related to air across cultures, technology as a bridge between breath on a human scale, air on an architectural scale, and atmosphere on a geologic scale. andreapolli.com

store

Soils Turn PREORDERS 

We are now 100 orders into the Second edition. There are currently 10 books printed and available to mail today.

Soils Turn is viewable online via ISSUU here.

Go to store

announcements

Spiraling: Photographs of the Great Salt Lake is a traveling exhibition of colorful aerial photography by David Maisel, available through the Barry Lopez Foundation, Santa Fe, New Mexico. above

Plastic Tsunami window display by Taina Litwak on Wisconsin Avenue in Maryland, Review

Off-shore Flow, 8 Hours of Observation, Glue and Green (3/31/05) is a Wind Series work by Virginia Katz, included in last year's Getty PST exhibition titled Energy Fields: Vibrations of the Pacific, and recently acquired by the Hammer Museum, Grunwald Collection, Los Angeles, California.

Feral is a new book of poems by Stephanie Garon

Pond Farm in Northern California has awarded a residency to Jane Ingram Allen for the month of August, in Guerneville, California.

Time Being is a recent photo book with 52 full bleed color illustrations by Elizabeth Chiles, with a hand sewn figure 8 saddle stitch. Order from the artist  

Dare 2B Fair: Building A Better World With Our Words is a 33-step guided journey designed to deepen our communication skills written by Beth Bando. Book launch, August 8. 

Note: Several of our members have Substack accounts and are posting regularly including Aviva Rahmani, WhiteFeather Hunter, Abigail Doan, Lauren Bon and Metabolic Studio, Eternal Forest via Evgenia Emets, and Vaughn Bell. 

PO Box 5211, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502