The exhibition is both gallery and laboratory, inviting visitors to seek forest-climate solutions.
By Bennett Campbell Ferguson
May 8, 2026
From now until August 2, 2026, visitors to the World Forestry Center’s Discovery Museum will be able to experience Forest Hope Through Innovation, a new featured exhibition that includes the work of Professor Juniper Harrower [art] and her students.
“Spending time with these works transforms how we see forest research and the people behind it,” Stephanie Stewart Bailey, curator of art and experiences at World Forestry Center, stated in a press release. “Each project invites us to think differently about forests, not only as ecosystems, but as a shared responsibility.”
Forest Hope Through Innovation is an art-forest-science experience revealing how creativity and community can build a sustainable future for forests. By displaying research typically happening behind the scenes, the exhibition works as both a gallery and a laboratory, inviting visitors to imagine what role they will play in forest-climate solutions.
“I really like functioning in the role of an educator—and thinking across science, art, policy, public engagement, and all of those components,” Harrower said in a recent interview. “I think that artwork can operate in multiple ways and at multiple scales.”
Showcased in the exhibition are new tools and research methods helping scientists defend forest ecosystems. That includes biodegradable seed carriers, tree ring research that uncovers centuries of climate and fire history, and sensors that track changes in tree growth under climate stress.
“This exhibition shows that innovation doesn’t only live in laboratories or academic journals, it lives in creative partnerships, artistic interpretation, community action, and bold ideas for caring for forests in a changing climate,” said Stewart Bailey. “We hope visitors leave feeling curious and empowered to deepen their relationship to our forests.”
Another highlight of the exhibition is Ecologies of Care, which is filled with imagery from Harrower’s 2024 trek into the Mojave Desert with her students (a team that included Nar Johnson-Harmansah ’27, Harper Lethin ’24, and Alanna Zheng ’25) to study Joshua tree roots. It was an expedition that, like Forest Hope Through Innovation, blended Harrower’s two greatest passions: biology and art.
“One of my advisers told me that once: ‘I think your calling in life is you’re a bridge builder,’” Harrower told Reed Magazine in 2024. “I’ll take that.”
Forest Hope Through Innovation will be on view at the World Forestry Center (located at 4033 SW Canyon Rd, Portland, Oregon, 97221) through August 2, 2026. Tickets are $5-$10 and are available at worldforestry.org.