We don't just create art-
we spark action.
At Artists With Ecology (AWE), we merge art, science, design, and direct action to reconnect people with the ecosystems that sustain us. Our projects aren’t about decoration—they’re about regeneration: restoring land, honoring Indigenous knowledge, mentoring youth, and creating living works of public art that heal both people and place. Rooted in creativity, guided by community, and powered by the belief that art saves life, we’re building a future where beauty is activism and connection is survival.
AWE's Ongoing Projects
AWE Latest News
“What was, Will be” ~ Collaboration & Visual Representation of a thriving estuary in Olympia, Washington.
A collaboration between Artists from Artists With Ecology (AWE), Squaxin & Nisqually Tribal artists. The What Was, Will Be Mural is a community centered public art project honoring the Deschutes Estuary’s past and future. Led
AWE Receives First Time ArtsWA Grant!
Artists With Ecology is happy to announce that for the first time, we recently received the following announcement… “We are pleased to inform you that your application for FY27 Art Project Grant with the Washington
Thank you to Inspire Olympia
Artists with Ecology is excited to announce that we have received another year of funding from Inspire Olympia! This coming funding year which runs from July 1st 2026 to June 2027 will truly empower
Why Support Mural Art? ~ Murals & the Innovative ArtsWalk Award ~ Fall 2025
DescriptionIn this conversation, we explore why mural art matters – to our neighborhoods, our ecosystems, and our sense of belonging. We share the story behind Olympia’s Innovative ArtsWalk Award and how it supports bold, creative
Honoring a Legendary Man: Chief Leschi in Bronze
The very first project that helped spark the vision for Artists With Ecology (AWE) was a powerful act of remembrance. Local multi-media artist Christopher Gerber was provided funding to create a bronze sculpture honoring Chief
Another Grant supporting AWE!
We are excited to share that we are a recipient of a Community Accelerator Grant funded by https://www.facebook.com/AllenPhilanthropies/ Allen Family Philanthropies and awarded by https://www.facebook.com/ArtsFundSeattle/ ArtsFund! This gift will accelerate our organization’s efforts in developing
Reflections from Our Director
Christopher Gerber, Executive Director of AWE, is as often found out in the field as he is behind a desk. He paints murals, builds statues and installations, takes action on restoration projects, and shows up at environmental meetings across Olympia — always rooted in the community he serves. He believes in ecovention: art that doesn’t just represent nature, but actively intervenes to restore it. For Christopher, every mural, sculpture, and restoration effort is part of the same work — healing land and community together. This is where he shares a few thoughts along the way.
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Ecovention Revolutionaries
McGill and Roloff, Isla de Umunnum
Isla de Umunnum (Island of the Hummingbirds) is an environmental art work, designed and built by Heather McGill and John Roloff for the California Arts Commission’s Art in Public Buildings Program.[Read Full Article] A land reclamation project creating a native habitat and sanctuary for hummingbirds, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, Moss
Mel Chin, Revival Field
Revival Field began as a conceptual artwork with the intent to sculpt a site’s ecology. 1993 marked a successful conclusion to the first phase of this collaborative effort. The initial experiment, located at Pig’s Eye Landfill, a State Superfund site in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a replicated field test using special
Transforming Polluted Spaces Through Reclamation Art
Reclamation art, also called “ecovention,” is the art of rehabilitating polluted spaces or abandoned industrial areas. It is often associated with land art, however, the works of this movement offer ecological rehabilitation and also help foster the connection between people and their natural environment. -Artsper Magazine, 10 Feb 2021 [Read
Patricia Johanson, Reimagining Infrastructure
Municipal flood basin for Dallas’s “Fair Park Lagoon” by Patricia Johanson, 1981 “Although the sculptural structures may look “aesthetic,” they are actually deployed to prevent shoreline erosion by breaking up wave action, simultaneously creating paths for people and microhabitats for fish, turtles, birds, and waterfowl. Water rises and falls with