Ecological Practices in Art

Get a Minor

Art rooted in land, justice and sustainability.

Explore how art can connect with land, ecology and more-than-human life, offering thoughtful, place-based responses to environmental and social challenges through ethical practice and land-based knowledge.

A mixed-media collage featuring a forest boardwalk, close-up photos of plants, and handwritten notes. Identified plants include Rugosa rose, sword fern, Kousa dogwood berries, and European mountain ash. Handwritten text notes the sound of the creek, peeling tree bark, and plant observations.

What You’ll Learn

You’ll explore climate justice, decolonization, Indigenous worldviews and environmental ethics while developing a material practice rooted in care, reciprocity and sustainability.

Immersive fieldwork, seminars and creative projects will connect you with local ecologies and land-based knowledge. With guidance from faculty at the forefront of ecological art, you’ll gain the tools to create thoughtful, imaginative work that responds to today’s most pressing environmental and social issues.

Program Highlights

Core courses include Environmental Ethics and the Ecological Practices Field School
Learn through fieldwork, collaborative projects and embodied research
Connect with local ecosystems, artists and community partners
Choose electives in environmental writing, Indigenous presence, multispecies studies and more
Build a portfolio grounded in ethical, sustainable, and place-based approaches

A soft beam of sunlight cuts diagonally through a misty forest, illuminating moss-covered branches. The scene is hazy with lens flare, while a few autumn leaves in the foreground glow in the light against the shadowy green background.

A triptych of watercolour paintings showing fences and barriers interwoven with plants and natural growth. The panels feature gridded tiles, a chevron wooden gate, and chain-link fencing overgrown with vines, exploring the meeting of human-made and natural structures.

A collage highlighting different slugs on gravel, including banana slugs and chocolate Arion. Handwritten notes describe noticing slug textures, color variations, and an abundance of slugs after rain, with reflections on gratitude for sharing space with them.

A black-framed display case containing a white feather, pinecones, seashells, pebbles, acorns, twigs, and seed pods, neatly arranged against a plain background.

A large wall-mounted painting of a spider with mottled brown and tan legs, positioned as though spinning a delicate white web. Its body is richly textured with earthy tones, emphasizing both fragility and strength.

A lively painting of a squirrel leaping midair, tail curved dramatically over its back. The squirrel reaches for a green pinecone, while small cone scales scatter around, evoking urgency and motion.

In Others’ Words

“Ecological Practices in Art allowed me to gain a deeper understanding and connection to the more-than-human beings living around me, as well as highlighted the importance of how the language we use to refer to them influences how we perceive and relate to them. Being able to then communicate my love and appreciation for these more-than-human beings through art was very valuable and continues to inform my art practice.”

Anita Mauriello, Student

Next: Program Structure

How to Apply Tuition + Support Take a Tour