Below is a random sampling of letters sent to us after we announced the closure of art.earth. We include these here partly as a testament to the work our wonderful team managed to pull out of the hat between 2016 and 2023 but also to underline the importance of having a community for artists engaged in this type of work and addressing ecological issues. All have been anonymised.
…You’ve done your bit to make the world a little better.
I’m so grateful for those chances to work on those projects for art.earth. It helps fill my library of good experiences.
Your work has has a big impact on many people including me and has generated many wonderful memories and connections. I know its impact will continue.
art.earth was a really important beacon of hope and inspiration
It was very sad to get your farewell newsletter today. I have only taken part in last years Sentient Performativities event and it was such a rich and rewarding experience, and I was so hoping to take part again. It was such a privilege to meet and be able to see your work and that of all the other practitioners involved.
I have great memories of my exhibition there in 2018, such a supportive and committed group of people.
This is deeply heart-breaking news—for all of ye, all of us, and everyone everywhere.
The activities that art.earth has organized have been a model for what I’ve been hoping that a local arts organization (which I helped start in my town) would eventually undertake. We are volunteers on the steering committee, and I haven’t had the time so far, but art.earth will remain the bright beacon, guide, inspiration, and high point that I’m aiming for! I’m all in tears. We need an organization like art.earth more than ever. But please be reassured that the ripple effects of what you’ve done will go on and on…
Thank you for everything you did and will do individually, we Eco – artists need each other, need to stay connected and need to share our work.
Thank you for all those years of creative intrigue
Although only a small proportion of your activities, I thought the First Friday events were a rare opportunity for folks who often of necessity live a fairly solitary way of life, to eat, socialise, interact and share some of their core values
I was just going over my notes last night from last summer’s symposium… it was one of the most enriching experiences I’ve had that brought together movement / ecology/ nature-connection / activism.
Thank you so much for all you’ve done over the years – a true inspiration.
You have been an inspiration to us and helped steer our thinking and doing as we have meandered along our path. Your quiet energy has always been a wonderful touchstone. The symposiums have been great and have always stretched us and introduced us to a load of new friends.
art.earth as it has been an amazing regenerative organization
Thanking you for all the work and inspirational artists and makers you have introduced us to, You will be much missed
It is a tough time we are living in, but your work and reach has been important & impactful over the past 6 years. Small acts are ever powerful and your input has been far from small. The conference at Dartington last summer was a period of such sharing and community & I have kept in touch with several new people through it.
I truly benefitted and connected with this community who I’m sure, like me, value art.earth and the opportunity to relate in this way
The courses and events that I attended within art.earth will always be remembered. They were, like art.earth, something special. Thank you.
A brilliant and timely endeavour…
The company you created mattered to a lot of people and the work, especially your creativity, and dedication to Art Earth, mattered and changed peoples lives.
Art.Earth was inspired, and your vision and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to learn so much from Art Earth events over the years and that has become part of my journey, but mostly very privileged to be asked to be a small part of it all those years ago.
It’s been life enhancing!
You will be missed! We so love working alongside you through the years and especially collaborating on Borrowed Time.
Thank you for all your encouragement and the platform for artists, so many have found it a wonderful place to express our feelings about the environment.
I appreciate and congratulate all the inspired and inspiring people who have worked so hard and brilliantly to make it the success it will never cease in being
Thank you, a revolution begins in resonance
Such brilliant new platforms. So interesting and varied. So refreshing. So necessary and new. May the energy and possibilities keep coming.
My time at the art.earth events I was able to be part of were wonderful experiences and a great inspiration and support to me in going ahead with my own organisation after my time at TippingPoint (and that organisation itself) ended. We need more art.earths, TippingPoints and more besides, and it’s an indictment of the system that the ‘economic’ environment os so harsh for bold and essential ventures such as yours.
I am so sorry to hear that you will be closing your organisation. Over the years, you have offered a wonderful service to so many people from such a range of backgrounds. When I came across your organisation in 2018, I was so inspired by the nature of the work you offered. It seemed to speak in a very unique way to my needs and interests as an arts educator, a somatic specialist and a creative person. Your emphasis on the natural environment has been particularly inspiring during these challenging times for the planet. I have since attended one of your courses at the Dartington estate, and more recently attended your wonderful conference on Sentient Performativities (June ’22). In addition to the quality of your work, your values for democratic learning and care were particularly appreciated.
I just wanted to send a message of condolence on the ending of this magnificent era, and associate myself with the tributes and expressions of outrage collected on the Ecoart list.
I believe that the company is such an important contribution to the arts and find it difficult to understand how this could happen but I’m sure the team will have tried all possible routes to obtain funding.
It’s very sad news and a great loss.
I’ve benefited enormously and felt so safe with such amazing like minded artists but also your kindness and dedication
Your generosity of spirit and unique gift of bringing people together has enriched my life at the deepest level. I will miss you!
All of you at artdotearth created something very rare and beautiful. Artdotearth sustained people and the planet. It made change possible and gave hope.
The time I spent with you and the people I met at the Soil Culture Forum; The Evolving River, Liquidscapes, & Evolving the Forest will stay with me for ever.
I found my time with you both challenging and joyous.
The work you and the team achieved is commendable and exceptional – you really brought a spark of life and hope to Dartington for mw and many others.
I also want to thank you for inviting me to work and participate in the symposiums you hosted, as they are so important to me and gave me a great opportunity to use my skills and meet new people and explore my practice and research.
It was something of a body blow reading news of your end. Every conference call catalysed what needed to surface at that moment; pertinent, political and poetic. This is no small thing.
Living afar, literally on the other side of the earth, I felt part of something extraordinary.
And yearned to be there, to meet more of you. Sending sincere and heartfelt thanks, for your wonderful work; for catalysing communities and conversations in many directions.
You, and y(our) communities are what the world needs now.
This is/was an organization and group doing really good work. A real loss.
Art.earth’s news wasn’t sad, it was another outrage!
I attended two art and ecology events under the art.earth banner in 2012 and 2016, both were pivotal for my work. Such gatherings were the only real chance I got to meet colleagues and each event was so rich in content and inspiration.
in the compost left behind by this group there are likely to be treasures sprouting…
The symposiums over the years have been so very inspiring and such a beautiful space to share and exchange. I have really valued all your work so much and will I’m sure the inspirations will continue for so many.
I’ve enjoyed everything you’ve done – learnt and discovered so much from you in this very special space you’ve held
You will be missed by many artists – having created so many memories for so many, you will never be forgotten.
Art.earth have made so many wonderful things happen and brought people together in ways that forge forever-connections. You, Richard, have held me and provoked me and championed me and all together been massively important to my artistic development, opening up life changing opportunities. I’m sure the same is true for many others like me.
Shocked and saddened that such a vital arena and support for the emergent ecological arts field cannot be supported in the UK… very sorry for my colleagues across the waters as art.earth were so pivotal in my development in what is such important area of contemporary art.
It was June of 2019, and I was excited to depart my home in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, Canada, to attend the Evolving the Forest conference. My artist presentation, After the Fire, an investigation into the fire-adapted ecosystems of the Interior of British Columbia, was prepared. The day before my flight, I took one last mountain bike ride, ending with a faceplant into a boulder. Arriving at the conference, I was ashamed of my appearance. Still, nevertheless, I was welcomed to the head table for the buffet supper and seated next to Simon Lloyd, conference co-convenor and Chief Executive of the Royal Forestry Society.
I forged many new connections during my brief time at the conference, some of whom I am still in contact with, and I enjoyed the field trips immensely. The irony of presenting a project about wildfire in front of a massive hearth in the Great Hall of Dartington was not lost on me! One particular highlight was the evening spent conversing during the midsummer event at The Glade after witnessing Tom Marshman’s performance, We Need to Talk About Bambi.
By the time the conference had drawn a close, my wounds had begun to heal, and my heart was whole – thank goodness my presentation was on the final day! I even ran into a fellow Canadian artist, Sarah Abbott. The memories of that brilliant event live on through my contribution to the Evolving the Forest publication, which was released the following year. My photo essay is titled Wildfire in an Uncertain Time.
While my heart is saddened by the farewell of art.earth, our words, images, and experiences will live on through the collection of publications the organization produced and the community they helped foster. Thank you for providing me with such rich cultural experiences far from home.
It was a treasure.