VOICES

An Eco-Arts Exhibition by Claire Coté

Reception: Friday, September 19, 5 – 7 pm
Artists’ talk at 6p

ECO-ARTS workshop: Sunday, September 21
1-4p: Leaf Prints, Shadow Drawings & Cyanotypes

GALLERIES on DOWNING
420 North Downing Street, Denver, Colorado 80218
September 19 through November, 2025
Exhibition Info Contact: Claire Coté, 575-224-9066

2025 Featured Artist by the Colorado Native Plant Society

At the heart of this exhibition are practices of slowing down, gentle curiosity, and cultivating connection and belonging. For Claire this comes in the form of daily morning walks, observational photography, sound recording, sketching, writing, painting and cyanotype printing at Eagle Rock Lake in Questa, New Mexico. 

“My premise is simple: show up at the lake with an attitude of gentle curiosity, walk, observe and reflect. After a year and a half of doing this four days a week, I’m completely addicted! I’ve accumulated hundreds of photos, sketches, audio recordings and observations. I now think of the plants, trees, birds, animals, insects and even the rocks, lake and Red River as my friends and neighbors; we all need to take time to get to know our neighbors,” says Claire.

These intentional and consistent times in nature are part micro-adventure, part art foray, part citizen science, part self-care, and part place-care. Art outcomes reflect this ongoing, multifaceted outdoor action-research practice. 

Claire describes, “These walks are about renewal, resilience and creativity, but on a deeper level, they help me reckon with the human-nature dichotomy we’ve built as a society; they remind me that we are not actually separate from Nature, we are Nature. This daily practice affirms my conviction that the more-than-human deserve the same consideration and respect that we would give to ourselves, other human beings – all communities. My walking-making-reflecting practice helps me to explore the complexities of belonging, interdependence and care.”

Claire grew up in Questa, New Mexico and left the area to pursue education and international travel to East Asia, Latin America and Europe. She received a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Fine Art from UNM in Albuquerque and then studied in Southwest England, where she received her MA in Art and Ecology from Dartington College of Art. Upon returning to her home place, Claire founded the artist nonprofit LEAP (Land, Experience & Art of Place), where she met Lee Lee nearly 2 decades ago. Now as multi-passionate artist, mother, community collaborator and director of LEAP, Claire creates her work on outdoor adventures, and at her Sunshine Valley studio and off-grid home where she lives with her husband and two daughters. 

On Friday, September 19, 5-7 pm, all are invited to a reception to celebrate Imprints of Place & Plants in Denver; a brief artist talk will be presented at 6 pm. Imprints of Place & Plants is hosted by restoration artist and instigator, Lee Lee who has recently opened the GALLERIES on DOWNING in a lovingly restored Victorian Farmhouse located at 420 Downing Street, in the Alamo Placita Historic Neighborhood. The exhibition opens in conjunction with the Colorado Native Plant Society’s Annual Conference in Denver, September 20-21, which will feature Claire’s work and a collaborative native plant workshop at 420 Downing Sunday afternoon.

30% of artwork sales benefit the Colorado Native Plant Society

Learn more about Imprints of Place & Plants:
Claire Coté ClaireCote.com  @clairecotearts IG/FB
Colorado Native Plant Society CoNPS.org
HABITAT Library: habitatlibrary.co.site – pop-up library during Claire’s installation

SUNDAY WORKSHOPS – CoNPS State Conference Weekend Activities
Cultivating Care & Connection with Native Plants

SUNDAY, September 21
Morning: 9a-noon:
Wildflower identification training with CoNPS director, Maggie Gaddis
Come experience how we teach CoNPS members to increase their botanical skills through a deductive and mentored approach to plant identification. In this workshop, we will learn how to take photographs that help key out plants and become research grade data for applications like the Rocky Mountain Native Plant Materials Program and the Statewide Natural Heritage Survey.  After observing plants, we will sit down with our plant specimens, the Flora of Colorado(Ackerfield, 2nd Ed.) and hands lens and microscopes to learn how to use a dichotomous key.What to bring: Hand lens, notebook, pencil, camera

Afternoon: 1-4p: Creativity with Plants with Claire Coté & Lee Lee
Explore new ways to appreciate plants through artistic expression. We will make leaf prints, shadow drawings and cyanotypes from plants we learned how to identify in the morning session. All materials provided.

Gallery of workshops led by Claire:
Courtesy of Claire Cote & Maggie Gaddis of the Colorado Native Plant Society