The E(ART)H ephemeral land art installation is a collection of sculptures created from organic and earthly materials. This exhibit is meant to unveil rich stories of the land through immersive, experiential art that sparks fresh perspectives and meaningful conversations regarding our connection to this space. This event fosters community connection and addresses eco-anxiety by nurturing collaborative creativity across multicultural, multimedia, and science-inspired approaches, inviting both new and returning visitors to deepen their relationship with place and each other.
E(ART)H is open from sunrise to sunset October 3 through October 17. Maps are available onsite.
View art opening photos by Megan Devine here.
View a map of the land art exhibit (google maps)
“The Land Holds” – Materials will include reclaimed branches, natural fibers, clay-based earthen mortar, moss, soil, charred wood, and biodegradable woven elements. The structures will be lightweight and partially open, allowing weather, light, shadow, and seasonal changes to continue shaping the work throughout the exhibition.
Artist Statement –
Artist The land holds everything. What grows, what decays, what we leave behind.
These oak rounds came from a tree outside my childhood bedroom window. The rounds are personal, as Earth is personal to each of us. I blackened the oak using the Japanese practice of yakisugi, where fire becomes preservation. What destroys also protects.
The edges and decayed places are mosaicked with slag, glass, fuses, switches and broken terracotta reclaimed from this land. Remnants of what we discarded are brought back into relationship with the natural world.
There is something deeply intelligent about nature. Given time, it always finds its way back toward balance. It takes our undoing and begins the redoing.
The land is still sacred. Nothing disappears. It transforms. It integrates.
The land holds.
Artist Statement – “Mother Bison” Materials: Willow, prairie grasses, jute, and grapevine.
Hunted to near extinction in the 1880s, 952 American Bison now roam Illinois once again. As they travel, native seeds cling to their thick coats and are planted when they wallow in the soil, propagating grasses and wildflowers. This sculpture honors their return to the Midwest prairie’s living legacy.
About the Artist: Jenny Mathews is a visual artist based in Rockford, IL. She paints, makes illustrations, and large-scale murals. She is deeply inspired by nature. This is her first land art sculpture.
“Common Ground”
Artist Statement – Throughout my journey as an artist I have moved between mediums in painting and sculpture, I use watercolor, gouache, graphite, found items, felted wool, textile dye, and most recently ceramics. My work is primarily small in size so this project came as a welcome challenge; how do I join my work to the land without losing it? This thought led to bigger ideas, like how do we as humans connect to the land without harming it, how do we carry ourselves through the earth with creativity and respect without detracting from it? All of these questions were on my mind as I worked on this piece, deciding which materials have the smallest footprint while simultaneously contributing to my overall vision. Ultimately I am creating an imaginative world within this already magical world, merging my designs with the earth around it.
“Receiver”
Artist Statement – An artifact from the imagined world of The Adventure Kids, Receiver stands at the base of a grouping of trees believed to act as a natural antenna, gathering and channeling signals toward the figure below. While its full purpose remains unknown, it is thought to create a place to pause, listen, and tune in. Perhaps it encourages us to quiet the noise of the outside world, trust our intuition, and remain open to signals that may help us discover our own direction and purpose.
Community Artists:
Mari Weikel and Ken Thomson
“We Come From The Earth”
Artist Statement – This piece is inspired by the time when True Flowering Plants “Angiosperms” finally evolved 100 million years ago. Their encased seeds provided mammals with enough energy to have warm blood and the ability to control their body temperature in winter. Thus, We Thrive!
Mari Weikel, a resident of Rockton, IL, is an elementary art teacher with 3 years of experience at Teaching Drum Outdoor School and an illustrator of two books. Ken Thomson, recently retired from Midway Village, is an active land steward volunteer, at NATC along with his partner, Mari.
Lenae Weichel
“Horizontal (Prairie Bands)”
Artist Statement – This piece plays with the juxtaposition of the strong horizontal lines of the Midwestern prairie and sky created by the strong vertical lines of innumerable blades of grass and stems of plants. It is informed by the lenticular images prevalent in my childhood, where the viewer would see one image looking in one direction and an entirely different one from the opposite. “Horizontal” allows the viewer to experience the abstracted bands of color present in the prairie landscape through the change of seasons as you move in either direction around the piece.
Using reclaimed wood (a combination of old and new offcuts, scraps, and salvaged pieces) and plant-based paints, each vertical strand simultaneously tells all of and only part of the visual story. When taken together, you appreciate the vastness of the prairie under the Midwestern sky. When taken individually, you see that even a part of the whole can be representative.
Jessie Crow Mermel
“Ecology of a Breath” Materials: Moss, wood, hemp, cotton, black walnut ink, metal
Artist Statement – Dendritic patterns (from the Greek word “Dendron” meaning tree) refer to the branching pattern that occurs throughout the natural world, including in our own bodies. In physiology, a dendrite is the branching pattern from a neuron that receives incoming messages from other nerve cells. We see this pattern in the branches and roots of trees, of course, but also in confluences of tributaries and deltas in river systems, mycelial networks, and in a variety of systems within anatomy from the circulatory system, to the bronchi and bronchioles in our lungs. Patterns can serve as a mirror and remind us how deeply we are interwoven with the rest of the Earth.
The land at The Confluence has been degraded and is in the process of healing and restoration. The mound behind you retains fragments of the harm done to this land through industrial dumping. The remnants of abuse to the land are tangible- they can be seen and touched. The pollution of the air is largely invisible, but can often be perceived through your sense of smell in this very location. The Beloit region has notoriously poor air quality and high rates of asthma. This pollution comes from industrial foundries and factories, power plants, and vehicle emissions. Particulates from these industries can enter our bloodstreams through our lungs. The trees, moss, and native plants at The Confluence help clean the air, and protect us from harmful emissions, and draw harmful levels of carbon out of the air.
Invitation: Take a moment to connect with your breath and how it moves in and out of your lungs in an exchange with the trees, moss, and plants. We are in constant reciprocity with the plant kingdom through our breath. The oxygen given off by the cottonwood tree stretched over the stream before you, enters the bronchi of your lungs to oxygenate the river systems of your blood. The carbon dioxide that you release is taken in by the trees. Just as you breathe in the Earth, the Earth is breathing you in.
For more information on how you can get involved with healing the air we breathe, visit: healthyclimatewi.org
Permanent Collection Artists:
Truman Lowe – Ke-Chunk Ciporoke – Sculpture by Wisconsin Ho-Chunk artist Truman Lowe (1944-2019). Lowe created this sculpture to honor the Ho-Chunk people who once lived along Turtle Creek at Ke-Chunk village until 1832. Ke-Chunk (“kay-chunk”) means “turtle”, and Ciporoke (“chee-poe-doe-kay”) means “round dwelling” in the Ho-Chunk language.
Woodrow the Woodpecker – a nine-foot-tall mosaic sculpture created through the SPARK 2025 Kids Camp and made possible in part by support from Sinnissippi Audubon and the Rockford Area Arts Council. Over the course of two weeks, 29 young artists worked together under the guidance of lead artist Susan Burton to bring Woodrow to life. The campers spent roughly 120 hours designing, cutting, and placing hundreds of pieces of colorful glass to form the sculpture’s vivid mosaic surface.
Justin Suarez – “Where the Grasses Grow” Mural – This two-panelled mural was created by Suarez. Justin is based in Rochester, New York and has a professional background in birds of prey rehabilitation, as well as art initiatives with youth. His mural “Where the Grasses Grow” features a variety of migratory songbirds that are threatened by climate change, including a Scarlet Tanager, American Goldfinch, Indigo Bunting, Song Sparrow and Eastern Meadowlark. There is also a Bald Eagle included in the mural, a homage to the eagles who have been known to nest on an island in the Rock River visible from the trails of The Confluence. Justin intentionally uses pinks, purples and oranges to juxtapose the masculine energy often associated with the Bald Eagle.
