From June 24 to Oct. 29, 2025, the Museo Novecento in Florence welcomes the first Italian solo museum exhibition of U.S. artist and environmental activist Haley Mellin, known for her commitment to painting and environmental protection. The exhibition, titled Haley Mellin. We Are Nature, will be open to the public from Tuesday, June 24, with free admission for residents of the metropolitan city of Florence, on the occasion of the holiday of St. John, patron saint of the Tuscan capital.
Curated by Sergio Risaliti and Stefania Rispoli, the exhibition is divided into four rooms and aims to analyze Mellin’s art that combines visual arts and ecological engagement through painting, drawing and activism. Haley Mellin is the creator of the nonprofit organization Art into Acres, an initiative that has involved numerous artists in supporting the preservation of more than 30 million hectares of primary forests, collaborating with indigenous and local communities and promoting fundraising from theart, and which has contributed to the creation of national parks, protected areas-also managed by indigenous peoples-and community conservation zones, spaces dedicated to defending biodiversity and recognizing the territorial rights of local historic communities.
For the first time, Haley Mellin’s work with Art into Acres is presented to the public as a form of art activism, intimately linked to her painting and graphic production. Alongside her work inenvironmental engagement, Mellin paints highly detailed landscapes, depicting the very places she helps to protect. His works are often characterized by a delicate, almost intangible brushstroke that enhances the complexity and variety of the nature depicted. “Art is the preservation of a concept, a way of being, a history, a testimony, a legacy,” reflects Haley Mellin. “Painting, for me, is preserving a particular state of mind - a way of being in and with nature. It is a homage, not an alteration; it is time, observation, study, listening while nature speaks.”
The exhibition places the artist’s paintings in dialogue with his environmental protection projects, offering a profound reflection on the connection between art and sustainability. Mellin’s practice in directly documenting protected landscapes through small-format paintings made outdoors, working in natural studios and reducing environmental impact by foregoing electricity, heating and air conditioning is highlighted. “Land conservation, when done well, is invisible. There is no trace of your passage left: life continues to flow as it has for millennia,” explains the artist and activist.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Haley Mellin has initiated a collaboration with the Museo Novecento to regenerate the Leopoldine Garden. The project, which opens June 24, has led to the planting of some 300 native plants within the historic cloister, the result of careful research into the original characteristics and uses of the garden in the past.
Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Haley Mellin is anartist and environmental activist whose work combines painting, land conservation and climate advocacy. She studied art and art history in Florence, Italy, becoming a leading voice in the movement for biodiversity and permanent protection of natural landscapes.
In 2023 she was named Max Beckmann Distinguished Visitor at the American Academy in Berlin, in joint residency with the Neue Nationalgalerie. As founder of the nonprofit Art into Acres, she has helped permanently protect millions of acres of wilderness through collaborations with artists, museums and environmental organizations. Her conservation-focused work supports European museums in integrating sustainable practices and climate education programs, including the Neue Nationalgalerie, documenta, Hamburger Kunsthalle, and Kunstmuseum Bonn.
For 25 years she has been followed in her artistic journey by rosenclaire.
Her works have been exhibited in venues such as Dittrich & Schlechtriem, Hauser & Wirth, MoMA PS1, Bischoff Projects, Morán Morán, Giovanni’s Room and The Journal Gallery. As an educator and author, she has lectured at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, the American Academy in Berlin, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mellin is co-author of the scholarly article Conservation Imperatives (Frontiers in Science, 2024), which outlines a practical and cost-effective plan to protect the planet’s rare, threatened, and endemic biodiversity through community-led initiatives.
|
|
| In Florence, Italy's first museum solo show of artist and environmental activist Haley Mellin |
Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.
