Now more than ever, I see the importance for our built environment to have integral interactions with nature and art. Being a trained sculptor, ceramicist, carpenter and gardener who has also worked as Buster Simpson’s assistant for the past four years, I have attained insight into the importance of creating art that connects people to nature and our urban environment.

Over the past four years, I have also been a carpenter, working on remodels with diverse projects involving structural framing, siding, roofing, outdoor structures, trim and detailed finish work.

Working carpentry, has not only given me skills and material understandings, but has also given me insight on how the buildings and structures in our urban environments can give so much more than they already do.

My interest in this project stems from the idea to create an art piece that can connect with both site, architecture, nature and students at the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences.  I envision a project that collaborates with the innovation and scope of Anderson Hall renovations as well allows the possibility of student stewardship and involvement well into the future.

I envision a structure that is connected to the site both functionally and environmentally. I see this project as an opportunity for a public art piece to be more than an object, but to provide a place that is open to habitat, plants, art, garden, and offers a stage for student involvement, experimentation and stewardship well into the future.

To heighten the incorporation of healthy plants, I have sited the structure to be incorporated with a native rain garden, fed by campus buildings stormwater runoff.