Ecotopian: ecological + utopia, an ideal society based on principles designed to minimize the society’s negative impact on the environment. —Oxford English Dictionary.
New York-based artist Mary Mattingly (b. 1978) presents the Ecotopian Library, an evolving project that explores how art and ecotopian thought can cultivate systemic social change. Taking the form of a library, the project offers a wide range of resources on forestry, botany, art, literature, and the sciences, including books, artworks, videos, and digital files. Visitors will be able to view and check out materials, write letters, play games, and read books. Mattingly first created Ecotopian Library in 2019. She invited fellow artists, scholars, librarians, scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, farmers, and visitors to contribute items. The project continues to grow as it travels, incorporating ecological resources from the locations where it is presented. Ecotopian Library offers space to think more deeply and creatively about our relationship to the dynamic environmental systems around us.
Ecotopian Library has been presented at the Anchorage Museum of Art, University of Colorado Museum of Art, Arizona State Contemporary Art Museum, the Cuenca Biennial in Ecuador, and the Thomas Cole Historic Site. It is also permanently on view at the Hudson Area Library in New York.
Mary Mattingly: Ecotopian Library is organized by Kristin Fleishmann Brewer, Deputy Director, Public Engagement, Pulitzer Arts Foundation with Vaughn Davis Jr., Public Engagement Producer.
