Meet the Artists

Community-Curated Trail SpuR

2026

Mary Patscot Rocha is a self-taught artist, gardener, and educator. Mary’s acrylic gouache paintings on wood explore the forest understory through expressive interpretations of native plants, fungi, and ecological relationships, each become reflections on resilience, reciprocity, community, and care. Working with repurposed materials is an important part of Mary’s creative practice. (Image by Juan Rocha)

View Mary’s artwork here.

Patrick Zettel is a hobby photographer with a focuson the physical and observational. Patrick’s photographs offer a closer look at familiar objects and details that might otherwise go unnoticed, each reveal different ways trees continue to provide habitat, structure, materials, beauty, and inspiration.

View Patrick’s artwork here.


​Thank you to our community review committee:

Download the Press Release. Media Inquiries, please contact info@forestexplorationcenter.org.

2025

Photo courtesy of John Suess
Photo courtesy of Holden Van Dyke

John Suess is a Milwaukee-based artist whose landscape paintings celebrate Wisconsin’s natural beauty, with a particular focus on local forests and woodlands. Living less than two miles from the Forest Exploration Center, John draws daily inspiration from the very landscapes the FEC works to protect and celebrate.

View John’s artwork here.


Holden Van Dyke is a young artist from Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. Holden has been deeply inspired by the profound beauty of birds and the natural world. Through painting and photography, he seeks to reveal the meaningful connections we share with wildlife—connections that often go unnoticed in our daily lives. His work is driven by a passion not only to capture the grace of these creatures, but also to evoke a sense of responsibility for their place in our world. 

View Holden’s artwork here.


​Thank you to our community review committee:

Download the Press Release. Media Inquiries, please contact info@forestexplorationcenter.org.