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The Forest Sentinels project started when The Appalachian Climate Literacy Network set forth a challenge. Could the Trillium Project, a local arts non-profit, create an artwork that could uniquely educate and inspire the citizens of Scioto County around the subject of climate change? The EPA funded the project, and the department of Fine, Digital, and Performing Art at Shawnee State University joined as a partner in the collaboration. In the spring of 2025 ARTS 2999: Special Topics Installation Art was established as a course through which SSU art and science students could learn and create alongside visiting artists, oral historians, residents of scioto county, ODNR park naturalists, and climate scientists.
As a team, our challenge unfolded naturally. How were we going to be able to connect with an audience that tended to be resistant to terms like climate change? Through our research, we learned that people are often loss-averse. We realized that we could meaningfully connect with audiences if we focused on what they stood to lose, rather than by asking them to change their deeply ingrained political leanings. Since Scioto County has historically been covered in lush forests, we decided to focus on the individual experiences that residents of our area have had with trees. Specifically, we were interested in experiences relating to a list of specific trees that were listed as “not likely to adapt to climate change” by Wayne National Forest Scientists. We knew that if we drew on the lived experiences of our viewers and if the interface of the artwork was very sensory, that we could create a conversation about the changing climate that would become relevant to almost everyone.
The final result of the project consists of three large sculptures that were displayed at the Vern Riffe Center for the Arts in the fall of 2025. The sculptures were included as a feature at the Portsmouth Artwalk in October 2025, and then were deinstalled, awaiting permanent installation at outdoor locations throughout Scioto County. A Google MyMap leads audiences from sculpture to sculpture on a pilgrimage between the sites. A QR code leading to this website is accessible at each sculpture and provides opportunities at each stop to learn about specific trees on our “not likely to adapt” list.
Each Forest Sentinels sculpture focuses on a different tree species from the "not likely to adapt to a changing climate” list, such as Cottonwood, Shellbark Hickory, and Pitchpine. The forms juxtaposes imagery from ancient Greecian and Roman pillars with castings of tree bark that students collected from actual trees. We wanted to focus on our forests and these trees as sites of learning, and also to provide an element from the actual trees that people could touch and relate to. Quotes from memories that residents of Hillview Retirement Community had of specific trees grace the surfaces of the sculptures. These memories were collected during a class field trip to Hillview as part of the oral history component of the class. The last visual element are carvings on the sculptures that reveal features such as leaf or bud shapes, dependent birds and insects, and nuts produced by each tree. These designs were determined after research, and after visiting trees in their natural habitats with Shawnee State Park Naturalist Jenny Richards.
Students in ARTS 2999 were led by visiting installation artist Heidi Bender Kauffman with frequent collaboration by oral historian Justin Maynard. In addition the field trips to Hillview Retirement Community and to the Shawnee State Park, the class benefitted from presentations and discussions with SSU science professor Erik Larson, as well as sculptor Kevin Lyles, a well-known public artist. Before starting the sculptures, the class spent several weeks researching news articles about climate change which spanned the political spectrum. This research was then used to generate class discussions and increase depth of knowledge about the subject.