Bio: Laura Nova is an artist, educator, and activator who lives and works on New York’s Lower East Side, connecting generations and diverse communities around public health and the environment. The first Public Artist in Residence to be embedded in New York City’s Department for the Aging, Nova brings expertise and empathy to her projects and actions, designing each element to enhance social wellness and decrease social isolation. She is currently designing and teaching in the CareLab at The New School and is an Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts fellow advocating for the care and longevity of humans and trees.

On Care: Nova discusses how care manifests in her community-based work and how others might engage in such work in a caring way. She elaborates on past projects such as The Crescendo Project, Moving Stories, Sounds for the Tree Hotel, Tree Loving Care, and touches on future work that seeks to demonstrate and deepen the reciprocity between New Yorkers and the city’s street trees.