the most important women artists making environmental art

Agnes Denes, Wheatfield: A Confrontation – Battery Park Landfill, Downtown Manhattan–with Agnes Denes Standing in the Field, 1982.

A woman walks through a field of golden wheat in Lower Manhattan, with the World Trade Center towers and surrounding skyline visible in the background.

Making climate-conscious art at scale and in public is arduous, expensive and often exhausting. Agnes Denes, Mary Mattingly and Maya Lin and their peers have built substantial careers, sustain themselves through their practices and hold places in major collections, yet haven’t shied away from creating works that help the planet.

the most important women artists making environmental art