Interdisciplinary artist and educator Ellie Irons will explore how the plants around Basilica Hudson are connected to the larger watershed/bioregion and its peoples, from Troy down to New York Harbor along the Hudson.

Irons will utilize seed collecting, data collecting and mapping to gather information on what is living in/around the Basilica Hudson landscape while also engaging in the theme of the Hudson River, how it’s changed over time, and how the plant populations have responded to/contributed to that change and will continue to. Irons’ residency is supported by Toolshed,

Ellie Irons lives on Lenape land in Brooklyn and Mohican land in Troy, New York. She works in a variety of media, from walks to WIFI to gardening, to explore how human and nonhuman lives intertwine with other earth systems. Born in rural Northern California, Irons went to Scripps College in Los Angeles, where she studied art and environmental science. After falling in love with biology field work, she began combining ecology with art. Irons relocated to New York City in 2005, and completed an MFA at Hunter College in the fall of 2009. She recently completed her PhD in Arts Practice at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with a focus on ecosocial art and plant-human solidarity. Irons is a co-founder of the Environmental Performance Agency and the Next Epoch Seed Library

The Hudson As Muse Basilica Back Gallery Artist In Residence Series is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. To find out more about how National Endowment for the Arts grants impact individuals and communities, visit www.arts.gov.

The Hudson As Muse Basilica Back Gallery Artist In Residence Series is supported, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the New York State Governor and the New York State Legislature.