Super El Niño

This past weekend I drove up to Colorado for an open house at the Rocky Mountain Land Library. It had rained the night before, so the drive up was silky and cool. However, on the drive home, literally within 24 hours of the water soaking thunderstorm, there were fires burning across Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. The nearby San Juan Mountains, at 14,000-plus feet, were notably lacking any snowpack. And the skies were filled with winds and smoke. Following a severe "snow drought" this past winter, which is exacerbating long-term water shortages, we are all "praying for rain" here in the Southwest!

Which brings us to the news of an impending Super El Niño coming this year. Is it a signal of more dramatic climatic swings to come, including severe droughts, flooding, and heat domes? If you're curious, do click on the image above to listen to a recent interview with Polish-American chemical engineer and physicist Tad Patzek in conversation with Nate Hagen on The Great Simplification. listen above

This month we have six exhibitions and five residencies scheduled at Swale House on Governors Island in New York City, including three programs in the Soil Shroud Room. see below 

Sit back and unwind, it's summertime (if you can)!

Patricia Watts, founder/curator

Header Image: We Weren't Expecting This: What Does a Super El Niño Mean For the Climate?, Nate Hagens interview with Tad Patzek, The Great Simplification #225, June 24, 2026. 

exhibitions

ecoartspace

@SwaleHouse

Governors Island, NYC

Nolan Park, 6b

July Exhibitions/Residencies

• Through July 5: The Soil Factory- Manifestos/Manifestations with Ben Altman, Anna Davidson, Johannes Lehmann and Linda Weintraub living and dining room exhibit/residency
• July 6–July 12: Elizabeth McAlpin Unearthed exhibition (and treasure hunt)
• July 6–July 19: Stephanie Rothenberg Metabolic Fairy Tales exhibition and residency (with experimental salt water antenna)
• July 20–July 26: Maria Patricia Tinajero Wormfarm Institute: Salk Market Report archive exhibition (with a series of live radio broadcasts)
• July 20–August 23: Marina Heron Tsaplina residency (weaving workshops)
• July 27–August 23: Elie Porter Trubert Call and Response exhibition
  
• July 27–August 23: Katrina Bello Expansion exhibition

Soil Shroud Room Programs

Saturday, July 11, 2-3pm 

From Assembling to Witnessing talk with Dr. Alexandra R. Toland, exploring different practices of making work with and about soils as featured in the book Soils Turn, with Pamela Casper who will describe her soil textile process

Friday, July 24, Noon  

“What Resurfaces: Decomposition, Art, and the Ethics of Becoming Soil,” is a reading on decomposition by Maria Patrica Tinajero, along with textile burials

Friday, July 31, 5-7:30pm 

Threading the Line sewing session with Saskia Jorda, an evening of stitching and connecting, through soils, cloth and thread

Be sure to say hello to Walker Tufts, Swale House in-residence director

upcoming book

Wicked Monstrous  

coming november 2026

Online, print-on-demand and limited edition book: 130 artists

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, Monique Martin, Natalya Khorover, Nicole Cooper, Nicole Dextras, Nicole Hixon, Niki Lederer, Ogwado Joachim, Pamela Longobardi, Pascale Marthine Tayou (above), 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, TOMO, Tracy Penn, Twyla Exner, Virginia Katz, Wiebke Schroeder, Yevgenia Davidoff, Zelda Zinn 

blog post

Carried by Hand: What the AI Inevitability Argument Leaves Out, Photography, Water, and the Fight That Is Coming, Substack post by Lesly Deschler Canossi, including review of the Museum of Fishes & Greens by Soon is Now, Beacon, New York

featured artist

michele guieu

"I create installations and objects using materials gathered directly from the places I work—plants, branches, seeds, stones, and sometimes discarded elements. These materials are not neutral; they carry traces of time, use, and ecological context. By working with them, I am not adding to the world as much as I am responding to it. Many of my installations are participatory. I invite visitors to contribute small gestures—placing, attaching, writing—allowing the work to evolve over time. These accumulations form shared spaces shaped by presence, attention, and care."  micheleguieu.com

store

Soils Turn PREORDERS 

The first edition is S O L D  O U T (300).... 50 Second edition orders were shipped at the end of April. Additional printing scheduled for July 2026, delivery August 2026.

Online book is now viewable on ISSUU here.

Go to store

announcements

The Panafold includes a feature article on Lauren Bon + Metabolic Studio and their Bending the River Project in Los Angeles. Issue 6, Summer 2026. above

2027 Blue Moon (Theia) is a glass public art work by John Roloff, to be installed at the Sacramento International Airport, California in 2027.

Is This the First Good Eco Art Survey? by Emily Watlington, ArtNews, June 16, 2026.

Artifacts of Speculation by Stephanie Garon, WEAD Issue 15 (Place Setting) 2026.

Soil Remembers: Conversations with Chorioactidaceae? Discussions with Discosea? Learning from Leotimycetes? by Rhonda Janke and Deanna Pindell, WEAD Issue 15 (Place Setting) 2026. 

PO Box 5211, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502