From Trash to Treasure: Creating Art From Waste

In a time of accelerating climate change, how can artists pursue creative projects that are in tune with environmental concerns? Art and Ecology, a 200-level course, offers a novel approach by intertwining art and ecology, guiding students to reimagine their creative practices through the lens of sustainability and place.

Cara Tomlinson, associate professor of art and studio head of paintingCara Tomlinson, associate professor of art and studio head of painting, teaches the interdisciplinary course. “This class is about taking an ethical response to the moment that we’re in, and giving students a chance to explore something they already feel deeply about.”

Tomlinson encourages her students to use a zero-waste lens to forge direct connections to the materials used in creating their art pieces. Consequently, sustainable practices in sourcing materials are important aspects of the class. For one class project, students locate their own art materials in the natural or human-made environment, thus building their understanding of the art-making processes. In one instance, students developed paint pigments from native plants, such as elderberry and buckthorn.

A major theme of the class is creating “threads of reciprocity” within the greater Portland bioregion, including among communities, physical places, and other organisms. The idea of reciprocity refers to the interconnected relationships between people and the natural world. It’s a give-and-take: humans draw inspiration and resources from the land, and in return, care for and honor its ecosystems, recognizing that our lives and actions are deeply intertwined with the environment.

Connections to Campus and Portland

Social engagement is an integral part of the class through field trips to the greater Portland area and what Tomlinson dubs “site interviews,” which promote place-based research. Every student chooses a site that they are encouraged to return to throughout the semester. As an example, some students chose a neighborhood site where they created a community garden and a mini library containing books on gardening.

By returning to the sites and creating relationships with the human and nonhuman actors of the areas, “the idea is that there’s some communication that moves beyond the site that they’re working on,” says Tomlinson.

In their final project, students are asked to “think about the human impact of that site.” Tomlinson calls special attention to the invention of plastic, which has led to a new type of mineral dubbed “Plastiglomerate” found in our current geologic strata. She notes that “plastic has melded with other kinds of earth, sand, and rock to create this new kind of mineral.”

Art and Ecology students on a field trip to the Portland Metro Central Transfer Station in Oregon City.
Credit: Cara TomlinsonThe influence that plastic has on the environment is one of the reasons Tomlinson took her students on a field trip to the Portland Metro Central Transfer Station in Oregon City. “We are living in this moment of real excess waste,” says Tomlinson. “Students confront this reality firsthand at the transfer station.”

Tomlinson says that the experience can be loud, intense, and visually overwhelming for students, but that it shows the sheer amount of waste that Portland produces each day. The transfer station takes in a variety of materials, including hazardous, household, and construction waste, and transports it to landfills.

With 3.9 million pounds of waste a day coming out of Portland, “the scale is just kind of mind-blowing,” says Tomlinson.

Mining Waste Projects

From this field trip experience, students are encouraged to identify a product of a waste stream—such as metal, plastic, cloth, or even tea bags—and create a project using that material. Their Mining Waste projects feature connections to the sites where each material was foraged from all around Portland.

Tomlinson believes there are abundant art materials everywhere. “That’s the idea—finding the beauty in all these materials that we just get rid of.”

Lucy Swedberg BA ’25, an environmental studies major and an Earth system science minor, enrolled in Art and Ecology this past fall. “This class has made me think a lot more about the connectedness of everything and the agency that nature has,” says Swedberg. “The Mining Waste project allowed me to give myself space to be creative while also thinking about the environmentalism that I’ve been studying for the past four years.”

Another Art and Ecology student, Eliza Roberts BA ’25, is pursuing a double major in history and studio art. “Since starting this course, I have realized that art can reshape how people perceive their day-to-day life. I have begun to pay close attention to the sounds, smells, and ambient life forces that make up my existence. I also have been thinking much more critically about human interactions with nature—both constructive and detrimental. Art can engage in collaboration, finding caring, mutually beneficial ways to use the resources nature provides.”

An Annual Opportunity

Art and Ecology is usually offered each fall and will next be available for registration in fall 2025. All majors and disciplines are welcome. Future classes will continue to incorporate field trips and outreach to the greater Portland bioregion. Students have also collaborated with the cochairs of L&C’s annual Environmental Studies Symposium to put on student-led workshops, creating useful items like cordage or paper from plastic or invasive plant species.

In the meantime, for anyone looking for a break during the finals, head over to the Lewis & Clark EAR Forest, located behind the Fields Center for the Visual Arts. There, Tomlinson’s Art and Ecology class has a program running based on the “acoustic ecology of Portland’s bioregion,” created from student site interviews with nonhuman actors. Programming runs December 16–20, from 3 to 5 p.m.

Art Environmental Studies