The Value of Nature

Nature works constantly—pollinators fertilize crops, wetlands filter and divert water, fungi and microbes enrich soil—all without cost, contract, or recognition. These unpaid systems quietly sustain our food supply, economy, and communities. Yet the ways we assign value are inconsistent and often viewed through an anthropocentric lens. What do we choose to protect, and what do we allow to disappear? At a time when environmental protection is being rolled back and critical agencies face funding cuts, the stakes are especially high. How do we make visible the often-invisible work of the natural world? This exhibition invites artists to reflect on what we protect, what we overlook, and how we define nature’s worth.

Dance Performance: Dredged and Dammed:

Join us for an experimental dance work created in tandem with the gallery exhibition The Value of Nature. Director and Choreographer Elizabeth Flinsch draws upon themes of the unseen labor of Minnesota's natural waterways. This work is part of a series called Dredged and Dammed, an elegy to the Upper Mississippi River. Through improvised movement and music, this work unearths the tensions between nature and industry, freedom and confinement, evoking a world in flux. As movement and live music converge, we manifest a living metaphor for a river that refuses to be tamed, channeling its unstoppable force.

Performed by Elizabeth Flinsch, Jesse Schmitz-Boyd and musician Zach Cohen of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Congratulations to the selected artists!

Kofoworola Adebiyi
Abigail Ahlberg
Christopher Alday
Drew Arrieta
Hadi Asgharpour
Raina Belleau
Katie Benson
Michael Borg
Hannah Buchanan
Hannah Rae
Roy Cacek
Calee Cecconi
Marcy R. Edelstein
Cindy Fuerstenberg
Gita Ghei
Kong Ho
Patti Kittilstved
Xi Liu
Josiah O.
Victor Palomino
Love Quetee
Jodi Reeb
Heidi Sawyer
Susan Solomon
Kaarina Marttila
Vernon Vanderwood
Kenneth Wenzel
Dawn Wing
Judith Yourman

The gallery is open daily from 9 am - 5 pm and free to the public.

Image: Jodi Reeb, Along the Path, Encaustic, oil and photo collage, 18" x 18", 2024