Forest Exploration Center “Meet the Artists”

The Forest Exploration Center (FEC) announces the second annual art exhibit along its Community-Curated Trail Spur, under the theme “All That Trees Provide: The Value of Trees and Forests in Our Everyday Lives,” featuring two local artists, Mary Patscot Roscha and Patrick Zettel.

The curated trail spur celebrates Wisconsin’s rich forest heritage and our human connection to the land through the visual arts, literature, and the sciences. It provides a unique opportunity for students, individuals, families, researchers, and collaborative groups to share their forest art, stories, research, photography, and experiences along an accessible nature trail beneath a canopy of trees.

Exhibits, recruited through open submission calls and selected by a volunteer committee of FEC board and community members, rotate seasonally alongside children’s literature and other projects.

The public is invited to attend a “Meet the Artists” event on Saturday, August 15, from 1:00–2:30 PM. Peruse the trail at your own pace and learn more about the inspirations and creative processes of these two local artists.

RSVPs are encouraged and can be made here.

Mary Patscot Roscha’s acrylic gouache paintings on wood explore the forest understory through expressive interpretations of native plants, fungi, and ecological relationships. Each work reflects on resilience, reciprocity, community, and care. Working with repurposed materials is an important part of Mary’s creative practice.

Patrick Zettel’s photographs offer a closer look at familiar objects and details that might otherwise go unnoticed. Each image reveals different ways trees continue to provide habitat, structure, materials, beauty, and inspiration.

The Forest Exploration Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization responsible for maintaining a 67-acre mature hardwood forest in Milwaukee County. Working in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Forest Exploration Center demonstrates and interprets the ecological, economic, cultural, and social benefits of sustainable forest stewardship for the people of Wisconsin.

The property includes a one-mile accessible, self-guided nature trail with rotating interpretive exhibits. The FEC also hosts events and educational opportunities focused on sustainable forest management, conservation, ecological stewardship, and wildlife monitoring.