A scene from the Who Takes Care of NY? exhibit, as attendees explore the
Stewardship Maps of NYC. Photo courtesy Malcolm Pinckney, NYC Parks.
Labor and Love of Stewardship: Who Takes Care of New York?
Thousands of stewardship groups across the New York
City metro area take care of the lands, water, trees,
and people, laboring in love for the places they call
home. In 2019, an in-person exhibit at the Queens
Museum highlighted the stories, geographies, and
impacts of diverse civic stewards across New York
through art, maps, and storytelling. The in-person
exhibit, Who Takes Care of New York?, was then adapted
to live virtually on The Nature of Cities website.
The exhibit combines science and data collected from
the USDA Forest Service Stewardship Mapping and
Assessment Project (STEW-MAP), which collected infor-
mation on civic stewardship groups' organizational
capacity, geographic territories, and social networks,
with artists whose work aligns with the themes of
stewardship and public engagement. This included
NaturePLACE artists Matthew López-Jensen and Julia
Oldham as well as Magali Duzant and Jodie Lyn-Kee-
Chow. Through photography and imagination they
interpret the work of caring for the places they live.
Art, science, and practitioner collaborations are not
new; they persist over time. We see art collaborations
as essential to broadening reach, sparking interest
and innovation, and deepening our understanding
of and inspiring stewardship action essential to suc-
cessful urban and community forestry programs.
So, how do you initiate partnerships between your-
selves and artists? As suggested by one of our agency
partners, start by extending the invitation to individ-
uals with a diverse set of expertise and experiences,
then, gather in a park or forest, share food, and begin
to tell stories, setting the stage for open conversa-
tions, and see what new ideas begin to unfold.
26 CityTREES
