When artist Ana Flores moved to rural southern Rhode Island in the mid-1980s, she brought with her a specific concept of “community”—based only on the interactions and commonalities between people. But as she and her husband struggled to build their home, and work their 10 acres of scrubby forest, the land worked on them. Flores discovered a rich new sense of community which included the bird, plant and insect life that surrounded them. With a deep connection for place that she hadn't felt since she left Cuba as a political refugee, and an awakening sense of stewardship for the land, Ana's artistic focus shifted. She began to use art as a way to connect people to nature. As a professional artist, designing parks, community projects, and sculptures for over a decade, an adjunct professor at Bryant University, and the artist-in-residence at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Kettle Pond Visitor Center, Ana has had the opportunity to share her environmental creativity and vision with many audiences.
For her TogetherGreen Conservation Fellowship, Ana will encourage Rhode Islander teenagers to engage in discussion about art and the environment through lectures, films, exchanges with urban youth, and community projects that they design and implement. Presently, this group rarely vists the USFW Center where she works. The youth group, entitled Greenhouse, will begin with a core group of 10 students, ages 14 to 17. These students will be introduced to the resources of the center and workshops with environmental artists and naturalists. During their training, Ana will support and mentor the students as they design their own events for their peers. Ana hopes that the inspirations of their programs and dialogue among peers from six area schools will encourage more community action, a fuller engagement with their natural environment, and a more vital nature center. The idea for the youth group grew out of a popular, monthly adult lecture and film series entitled the Green Cafe, created by Ana three years ago, which features presentations by local artists, scientists, and activists and a lively community dialogue session.