eco-conspiracies
CON: with
SPIRE: to Breathe
The idea of eco-conspiracies grows from the idea that we breathe together with plants. As the foundation of ecological webs, native and bioregional appropriate plants serve to restore habitats, especially through the tight urban spaces where most of us dwell. Opening space for contemplative practice, we invite visitors to slow down and breathe with surrounding plants in our spheres, practice creative acts of sci/art conservation, and share seeds and their stories with neighbors to pass regenerative acts forward.
Using Art to Bring Wildlife Conservation Closer to Home
Broadening perceptions of ‘home’ to include outdoors spheres around our lived-in structures, we encourage deepened relationships with non-human species who dwell with us in the urban corridors we call home, thinking of ways we may increase connectivity across Denver’s communities.
EXHIBITION
DATES: March 1 – April 30, 2026
An immersive installation sharing stories of creative restoration work by practitioners within the Creature Conserve community interspersed with local artists’ multi-disciplinary approaches of re-inhabiting conservation.
Spring 2026 engagements
Sunday, March 29: 10a – 12p
Native Seed Packaging Work Party
Hang out and help us package up seed for the upcoming Colorado Native Plant Society‘s Annual Conference and local seed shares. Participants can take seed with them after the event. The Galleries are a lovely, light-filled space perfect for this kind of slow, relaxing work. Come pack seeds and chill. We will provide seed, envelopes, packing instructions, and a place to make new friends. Feeling creative? Lee Lee will offer hints on how to approach washes & resists to create art for seed packaging.
GALLERIES on DOWNING: 420 North Downing, Denver CO 80218
Saturday, April 18: 1-4p
Volunteer Day & Plant Exchange in the Stiles African American Heritage Gardens
Join us for spring spruce-up of the Stiles Gardens! We will be giving away pollinator powerhouses that were installed with the People & Pollinators Action Network as we thin the garden to open space for more diverse plantings. Seeds will be sown & are available to take home. Bring your own garden thinnings to share with the community. Kala Greene, director of the Stiles Center will be on hand from 2-4p to give tours of the Heritage Center founded by her mother, Grace in the early 1990s.
Stiles African American Heritage Center 2607 Glenarm Place, Denver, CO 80205
Thursday, April 30: 6:30 – 8:30p
Goodbye Grass! Workshop with Faith Williams Dyrsten
Faith’s mixed-media illustrations are observations on the phases of new growth, ongoing
decay, and insect life. After removing the turf grass from her front yard using the “cardboard composting” method, Faith took pieces of cardboard back into these changed garden spaces and created live drawings of the plants. This series questions our needs for the traditional suburban grass lawns and considers what can happen when we create more pollinator-friendly spaces. Workshop will be paired with a demonstration of the cardboard method in the gardens at the GALLERIES and a presentation on grass replacement methods.
GALLERIES on DOWNING: 420 North Downing, Denver CO 80218
Thursday, May 21: 7pm
Artist – peer critique with Faith Williams Dyrsten
A free group for all artists and creators seeking to improve their work through thoughtful, peer feedback. Meeting every Third Thursday in Denver since 2013.
GALLERIES on DOWNING: 420 North Downing, Denver CO 80218
RSVP to any of these engagements by e’mailing leelee@creatureconserve.com
Archive
Nature Heals in Collaboration with HABITAT Library
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS:
Tya Alisa Anthony – Libby Barbee – Andrew Beckham – Theresa Clowes – Claire Coté – Margaret DeKoven – Daniela Jules Garza – James-Allan Holmes – Lucy Holtsnider – Homare Ikeda – Mamiko Ikeda – Lee Lee – Catie Michel – Chandler Romeo – Sarah Wallace Scott
REVIEW: New Art Space Galleries on Downing Cultivates Community
Habitat Library has also found a temporary home in the space.
Come see it at an October 5 open house. By Kristen Fiore – WESTWORD
Claire Coté:
Imprints of Plants & Place
2025 Featured artist by the Colorado Native Plant Society
“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 Coté on her creative practice centered on walking.
About the GALLERIES
Operated by the Leonard Leonard Family Foundation, the GALLERIES serve to deepen our relationships with urban and steppe ecologies & communities who dwell therein. Updated and expanded from the original 19th century farmhouse, gallery spaces feature a combination of cozy nooks and spacious gathering rooms. Art displayed within the walls support restorative practices across the range of arid and mountain ecologies. Flanked by patios with fireplaces and extensive gardens, it is a charming place to gather & inspires creative work. Surrounding gardens provide seeds for native & bio-regionally appropriate plants to help weave biodiverse urban corridors through greater Denver.
VOICES 