Loose Leaf Projects
Limited Edition Prints & Books
New Midwestern Nature Stories
An Illustrated Collection
An Artist-Led Project by Karen Kopacz, Artist & Writer
Select Midwest prints are available now. An artist-designed book is in progress.
In 2016-2019, I traveled throughout the Midwest to places I had drawn, adding another 2000 miles in 2026, totaling over 10,000 miles. This nature-immersive journey allowed me to produce a collection of stories that emerged from visiting public parks and natural areas in every Midwestern state.
The New Midwestern Nature Stories series elevates stories about natural areas and our relationships with land and each other. Each drawing pairs with a short story that contextualizes land through compelling narrative that encourages thoughtful reflection on human, ecological, and bioregional interconnection.
It recognizes the importance of shifting ecological and human perspectives so that we can to imagine and explore a new mythos of the living world.
This artistic approach to land and water comprehension is a pathway to recover optimism amid disorientation. As we become collectively aware of our disconnection from the land that sustains us, we can begin to build connections toward working collaboratively with nature and each other.
— Karen Kopacz
Interactive Illustrations
See the Landscape
Have a look around. Tap drawings below to explore each place in satellite view in Google Maps. Map tips: Click the person icon in yellow at the lower right, then click the blue circles to enter street view, when available. (Zoom out to locate blue circles.) Click the “x” in the upper right to exit street view.
A Hand-Planted Forest in the Midwestern Desert, 2015. . Once the largest hand-planted forest in the world, the Bessey Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest was imagined by botanist Charles Bessey over a century ago in 1887. His vision for planting a forest in the Sandhills of Nebraska was regarded an impossible fantasy by many, including politicians who could not fathom a forest surviving in the Sandhills and stockmen who protested the forest reserves and wanted to privatize federal lands. Notwithstanding, Bessey was determined and gained gradual support for his plan. Supplied with a small batch of seedlings from the Federal Division of Forestry and privately donated land, the trees were surviving after a decade of trial and error. Gaining more federal support and planting assistance by the CCC and residents of the tiny town of Halsey, 100,000 seedlings were planted and the forest began to thrive. Today, the Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery is the oldest federal seedling nursery in the U.S. and a seed bank for Engelmann spruce, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and lodgepole pine. The tree nursery produces 1.5 million seedlings each year. A portion of those replace trees lost to forest fires, insects, and storms in five states. Bessey Ranger District. Nebraska National Forest in Halsey, NE.
The Great Protector, 2016. Quiet marshes around the southern edge of Lake Michigan are the adaptable legacy left by the continental glacier that receded over 10,000 years ago. Prairie, savannas of oak, and groves of pine trees outline the edges of the Great Marsh, sheltering the expansive wetlands that create drainage during storms. The dunes and its bogs, fens, and shrub swamps provide a buffer between the lake and the land, protecting inland ecosystems from flooding and high winds. Marram and American beach grass take root in the sand, stabilizing dunes and reducing beach erosion. There is profound wisdom in the communities that create the living tapestry of our natural world. The dunes are more than drifts of sand—they belong to a layered, living system that works together to protect both smaller and larger living systems. These are the great protectors that invite me to hope as I deeply contemplate the interwoven natural dynamics that balance vulnerability with resilience in a complicated plexus of organisms. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, IN.
Where the Tallgrass Still Grows, 2020. Grasslands are the most endangered ecosystem globally. Once 170 million acres vast, less than 4% of tallgrass prairie remains in North America since colonial settlement. One of the largest areas of tallgrass prairie was inadvertently preserved due to the rocky terrain of the Flint Hills region in Kansas which hindered early colonial farming. This is highlighted in the drawing Where the Tallgrass Prairie Still Grows through the depiction of a controlled burn that exposes an expansive landscape of limestone outcrops. More than the sum of their grasses, prairies improve water quality, restore soil health, and provide critical habitat for prairie chickens and pollinators. The open vistas of the Great Plains may appear to be austere, but grassland biomes are intricate ecosystems that are full of life. Prairies support abundant plant diversity, including less visible vegetation like bryophytes (mosses, liverworts, and hornworts) that are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. While vulnerable to impacts such as strip mining, a growing number of studies show the environmental remediation potential when bryophytes are revegetated. In the drawing, a true moss in the Pottiaceae family is shown in magnified view, nestled beneath bowing grasses to the right of an evening primrose, radiating a magical glow. Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, KS.
The Sway of Nature, Law, and Sprawl, 2016. Before 2017, vehicles crossed between Stillwater, Minnesota and Houlton, Wisconsin via a historic lift bridge. The bridge arched over St. Croix River, a federally-protected wild and scenic river that defines part of the states’ border. In 2007, a proposal was submitted to build a new bridge across the river and convert the historic bridge into a pedestrian walkway. The National Park System is legally required to defend wild and scenic rivers against environmental impact to the shoreline and watershed. In Wisconsin, Washington County Historical Society was responsible for the historic preservation of the lift bridge. Minnesota Department of Transportation’s objective was safe public infrastructure. Some residents supported the new bridge while others were concerned about increasing urban sprawl. Ultimately, the historic bridge became a footbridge and a four-lane highway bridge was built. An area resident told me that eagles nested along the river bank and were displaced by construction. The Sway of Nature, Law, and Sprawl depicts an eagle emerging from ripples in the river with swirls above the wings indicating bridge impact. This complicated fight drew to a close a decade later when the new bridge was completed, but urgency to protect the St. Croix River began in 1966 and pre-dates the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, MN & WI.
The Miracle of Mushrooms & Bryophytes, 2020. The grandeur of this recessed cave opens into a natural theater. Black Hand Sandstone cliffs are speckled with quartz and pebbles. Flecks of moss in bright shades of green spread across the rock walls of Ash Cave with sprigs of Lobed Spleenwort here and there. The lower walls are layered in Scented Liverwort that hold mathematical mysteries within the of details of their thalli. A graceful duo of resplendent Eastern Hemlocks are illuminated in sunlight and mist. The waterfall awakens a multiplicity of tiny worlds within its lush environs. Christmas Ferns, evergreen, sprawl from the trails. Turkey Tail mushrooms grow on a decaying log near a small cluster of Yellow Chanterelles, which grow out of the soil in summer and early fall—both of which enjoy the company of Red Oak and Sugar Maple trees. I never found the Appalachian Filmy Fern that has rarely been found growing near seeps in the darkest crevices of the walls. It was not until 2026 that I visited Ash Cave. While some of what is described is not shown, essential details are expressed in this drawing, such as the drapes of Prickley Beard and Broom Mossesin microscale, perhaps dreaming together about the animated life force of their dancing sporophytes. Ash Cave. Hocking Hills State Park, OH.
Unlike the Sky, the Land Has Borders, 2015. Everything in the sky is part of the water. The lake is a mirror of endless sky, but unlike the sky the land has borders. In Minnesota, we call it “the Boundary Waters,” otherwise known as Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA or BWCAW). BWCA contains one million acres of protected land and water in Minnesota along the Canadian border. Nearly half a million of its acres are water. The sky and the water become each other and are separated only by the horizon of Canada’s boreal forest. The BWCA sits within a 3.9-million-acre area of Superior National Forest’s northernmost woods. Thousands of lakes, as if splattered, make mirrors across the land. Ten thousand fragments splinter from its mother, Lake Superior. She is one of five of the Great Lakes, the largest interconnected freshwater system of lakes in the world. Movements and laws strive to protect wilderness, only because it continues to be destroyed. Many wilderness areas were once inhabited. The BWCA is the homeland of the Anishinaabe people. Wilderness is defined as uncultivated, uninhabited, and free of significant human impact, but wilderness is a cultural concept. If we are not of nature, then we must be separate from it. View from the Border Route Trail. Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, MN,
That Shipwreck, Too, Will Be Forgotten, 2015. Lake Superior is under constant protection by citizens and organizations who oppose sulfide-ore copper mining which leaches heavy metals and could permanently damage lakes and groundwater. The Great Lakes are one of the largest surface freshwater ecosystems in the world. Lake Superior. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, MI.
We Crossed Paths Last Evening, 2020. Chimney Rock National Monument, NE.
River Fires and the Creation of the Federal EPA, 2015. This image tells the story of the creation of the federal EPA, which was enacted after the Cuyahoga River caught fire over 13 times from pollution over the course of 100 years. Cuyahoga River & Brandywine Falls. Cuyahoga Valley National Park, OH.
Magnetically Dismantling All of Creation, 2016. Wildlife Loop Road. Black Hills, SD.
Cypress Beings at the Confluence, 2017. Big Cypress Access & Heron Pond. Little Black Slough Nature Preserve, IL.
The Solar Eclipse, 2017. Garden of the Gods. Shawnee National Forest, IL.
Natural Bridges and Caves, 2015. The Natural Bridge. Maquoketa Caves State Park, IA
Mining the Edges, 2015. St. Louis Canyon Trail. Starved Rock, IL.
When the Commodity of Land Overpowers Community, 2015. Through the Devil's Doorway. Devil's Lake State Park, WI.
Trading Jack Pines for French Fries, 2015. A North Dakota potato farmer (McDonald's french fries) destroyed acres of jack pines before being stopped by the DNR. The farm is a threat to the Pineland Sands which sits atop a major aquifer. Wadena MN.
Birdsong & Rocket Bodies, 2015. Yellow Mounds Overlook at Badlands National Park, SD & Pinnacles Overlook at Custer State Park Black Hills, SD. (Also see: https://tinyurl.com/yckrub27)
The Juniper Fire That Burned for 26 Years, 2015. This national park has been and continues to be under constant threat since the Bakken Oil Boom. Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) borders the park and gas flares contribute to light pollution. The buttes at Painted Canyon. Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND.
The Road Trips
Open Air Jouranl
Photo documentation the road trips—over 10,000 miles of nature in 4 loops.
Documentation
Acts, Facts, Maps & Timelines
A library of documentation that informed the project.
