USDA Forest Service and Partners
Bridging Art, Science,
and Community Forestry
By Julie Capito-Hernández, Lindsay K. Campbell, Erika Svendsen, and David Maddox
To be successful and sustainable,
our collective work in urban and community
forests needs the understanding, care, and con-
sideration of community members. However,
community engagement can be a challenge with
the traditional strategies that we have in our
toolbox as scientists and practitioners. We have
found that collaboration with artists can help
to co-create a new bridge to communities.
Artists can be thought-partners, translators,
creators, and unifiers—gathering communi-
ties about our urban forests in celebration, fun,
and awe. Collaborations provide an opportunity
to explore creative ways to connect with the
public and try new storytelling methods to effec-
tively reach a variety of audiences. Additionally,
artists help us to visualize the many ways that
stewardship can impact the urban environ-
ment and through that deepen local ecological
knowledge and our relationship to the land.
This article highlights ways of integrating
art and artists into our work as urban and
community foresters. Through four exam-
ples of collaborations fostered through the
NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program, we
hope to spur new partnerships and ignite a
conversation on how art-engaged approaches
might strengthen our collective efforts. >>
NaturePLACE Collaborative
Arts Program: An Art-Science-
Practice Collaboration Program
NaturePLACE Collaborative Arts Program, formerly
known as the Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts
Program, is a virtual, place-based artist residency
program hosted by the USDA Forest Service in part-
nership with The Nature of Cities. The program aims
to foster collaborations between land managers,
artists, and scientists, cross-cut disciplinary approaches
to PLACE, LANDSCAPES, ARTS, CREATIVITY, and
ECOLOGIES, and curate events and public programs
that mix science and art into public conversations.
A key element of the program is that it is not a
commission for work, but a call to engage in the
relationship-building process between practi-
tioners, scientists, and artists. By focusing on the
process, pressure to create a product is alleviated
and artists can focus on co-production and explora-
tion of novel ideas to address the problems at hand.
Since 2016, the program has been facilitating col-
laborations across the globe with six cohorts, and
plans to launch a seventh cohort in summer 2025.
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