Beneath the Surface: Where Art and Science Meet the Watershed

For the exhibition Beneath the Surface, participating artists spent months in the field alongside scientists from the North and South Rivers Watershed Association, visiting monitoring sites, wetlands, and shorelines across the watershed. Guided by the scientists' research and firsthand observations, the artists translated data, ecological processes, and direct encounters with these landscapes into original works exploring the health, history, and future of our local waterways.

Join us for a panel conversation bringing together artists and scientists from the project to discuss how the collaboration unfolded — from muddy boots in the field to finished work on the gallery wall. Panelists will share what it was like to see a familiar landscape through another discipline's eyes, how scientific observation can shape artistic process, and what art can reveal about environmental change that data alone cannot capture.

This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from both sides of the creative-scientific partnership at the heart of Beneath the Surface — a conversation for anyone curious about watershed health, contemporary art, or what happens when these two ways of seeing the world come together.

5:30–6:00 PM | Meet & Greet in Judah Alden Gallery: Meet the artists and scientists informally among the works in Beneath the Surface before the discussion begins.

6:00–7:00 PM | Panel Discussion, Main Museum Building: Conversation with artists and North and South Rivers Watershed Association scientists.