Pictured: student nest assemblage

Insect ecologist Dr. Amy Mertyl, environmental scientist and artist Dr. Nicole Weber, and interdisciplinary artist Leah Craig worked together to guide cohorts of elementary school students through collaborative STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) projects resulting in a multi-part art installation, Our Place. Together with students, they explored local ecology and its interconnectedness with human experience, looking closely at ways that habitats in the more-than-human world inform architectural design in the built world. The title Our Place broadly addresses the idea of a site where living beings—including humans—can experience life-sustaining qualities such as rest, nourishment, safety, and belonging.

For Our Place: Nests, fourth-grade students produced a group installation of individual artworks that reflect on the “nest” spaces in their own lives.