The 2025 Mail Art Project was inspired by the IA Happening, Textures of Ecology, which invited participants to draw grounding and inspiration from the natural world in their creative art-making practices. In times of overwhelm, a simple way to bring awareness back to the here and now is to use the senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) as a way to reconnect with the corporeal body. How might the natural treasures that exist in the margins of local neighborhood trails and parks become the center of attention, intention, and creative process?

We encouraged participants to reflect on the following questions as they headed out to forage for materials for their project:
• How can we use natural and found materials to connect with and make visible, in new ways, the relations between place, land, and embodiment?
• How do our bodies extend beyond their skin? How does place become part of our touching, feeling self?

Explore responses from the IA member community below.