HIAA friend, and graduate, Judith Champa, has curated a forum and exhibition that explores the interconnections between nature and urban life, providing special attention to botanical nature’s many guises, roles, and responsible cultivation. It opens at the Rhode Island State House on Friday, October 26 at 5:30 pm.

The exhibit includes works created by a large selection of contemporary artists practicing in Rhode Island and beyond that highlight a fascination with plants and other species. At times they posit a relationship of impasse regarding nature in the urban, at others, ways of reaching productive reconciliation.

The forum takes place at Brown's Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs (280 Brook Street, Providence, RI 02906) from 9 - 5 pm on October 26.  Drawing from indigenous, cross-cultural, and Western knowledge traditions - presenters include artists, academics, designers, urban planners, farmers, botanists, and herbalists. All will share their perspectives on the entwined lives of humans, plants, and other life forms in urban New England.