A Wilderness Science and Art Collaboration

Aldo & Leonardo, a partnership between Colorado Art Ranch and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute, is a project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Wilderness Act. The project is inspired by the scientific wisdom of Aldo Leopold and the artistic genius of Leonardo da Vinci. Our endeavor is an interdisciplinary collaboration of artists and scientists designed to celebrate the lands, resources and opportunities protected by the Wilderness Act. In 2013, we are hosting one-month residencies in six diverse wilderness areas. Artists will work alongside wildland research scientists and gain firsthand knowledge of the wonders, complexities and challenges of our nation's wildest places. The result will be a body of work that creatively illustrates the value of wild areas and honors the scientific efforts to preserve wilderness for the next fifty years.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Life, Death and Rebirth in the Monomoy Wilderness

By Elisabeth Nickles

Whatever ambitions we have, as humans, they will all succumb to the greater rhythm of time. We are not giants, nor can we steer the wind and rain in the direction we want. As much as we desire to be immortal, it can never be so… unless to accept that we are faithful and eternal partners to all that gives us sustenance.

We are bound, as much as we forget, to the millions of years in our evolutionary making. Our lives on this earth intimately tied to the animals and plants that we eat, the air we breathe, the ground we stand upon and the sky full of stars that envelop us at night. We are just one element, a manifestation of life turning upon life, over time, kindred to all of the other forms that developed before and along with us. 

The countless forms of beauty that take shape around us exist in us as well. These are the true intimates, the familiars of life. They can leave you breathless with their magnitude and beauty; struck down with sorrow at their passing. As with all things, every thing must come to an end.  With so much passing, comes many births and beginnings.

Life finds a way to take form in every speck of space. In infinite, confounding figures of design. In each moment, life is lost and life is gained, like the tides and the coming and going of the cycles of the moon.




Marine Eelgrass


Northern Moon Snail


Horseshoe Crabs Mating


Grey Seal Femur


 Grey Seal 


Common Tern Nest and Eggs

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