Forest for the Trees

Fowler-Kellogg Art Center, Chautauqua Institution

June 28 - August 9, 2026

Forest for the Trees is a sylvan-themed exhibition with a focus on the positive impact of forest ecosystems and the need to preserve them. Each artist focuses on different bionetworks on the forest floor or within the trees. Using paint, textiles, sculpture, and light-based processes, they also remind us to consider the bigger picture of what is at stake if we disrupt our woodlands. This exhibition is generously sponsored by the Kay Hardesty Logan Foundation.

ARTISTS: Addyson Aftanas, Colby Caldwell, Joan Elliott, Anna Johnson, Colleen Toledano, Melissa Webb, Tali Weinberg.

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In difficult times, people often seek solace within nature. A walk in the woods can clarify our thoughts and inspire new ones. With that in mind, this exhibition magnifies our view of the interconnected ecosystems sustained by our forests from the ground to the sky. It also portrays a bigger picture of our responsibilities to nurture our shared home on Earth.

 Weaving together soft cotton with shimmering fishing line, Tali Weinberg connects the imagery of critically endangered trees to the anatomy of our lungs, a reminder of the role our trees play in purifying the air we breathe. In her more dimensional pieces, she traces the patterns of Emerald ash borer beetles and their destructive pathways through ash tree bark. With similarly perambulatory marks, Joan Elliott’s representational oil paintings reveal a web-like texture and energetic movement on the surface, mirroring the discreet yet entangled activities of the forest.

 Colby Caldwell uses a flatbed scanner to document the forest floor in various stages of growth and decay, as fallen trees make way for lush moss and fungi. For smaller works, he lies on the forest floor itself and turns our gaze to the treetops. Anna Johnson shifts our attention to tiny branches, petals, and bones, as she casts these prized bits of nature’s detritus into precious metals. Her clover necklace is reminiscent of youthful days spent outside making flower chains.

Works by Melissa Webb, Colleen Toledano, and Addyson Aftanas consider family, women’s labor, and the human desire to both surround ourselves with nature and to control it. For her site-specific immersive installations, Webb combines video with household textiles that she collects, dyes, disassembles, and reconstructs. Inspired by domestic objects like Wedgewood pottery, Toledano incorporates porcelain foliage into her work as a metaphor for growth and connection within the home. Aftanas also brings together notions of care, grief, and memory with her ceramic fishing lures depicting extinct species of Appalachian fish.

Together these works depict nature as home and uncover small landscapes unfurling with life. They also remind us to consider the larger context of what is at stake if we disrupt our woodlands. Just as the forest provides shelter, food, and splendor to its inhabitants and visitors, we too play a role in preserving these life-giving ecosystems.

Photos: Erika Diamond

Special thanks to Colin Shaffer, Rena Colletti, Kinsey Gebhart, Elsie Marshall, and Tala Abuhmeidan for assistance in exhibition install.