John Kleinschmidt used drawing and installations to explore prehistoric and present-day environmental change and project what plants and animals might thrive in the distant future environment of New Orleans. John, in collaboration with evolutionary biologists, geologists, and experts in ecological change, worked with a group of elementary students from Kipp Central City to explore New Orleans’ deep geological past, observe its precarious condition today, and speculate about its future environment. John will adapt student drawings into “design documents” for a site-specific installation at FORESTival revealing clues about imagined future plants and animals of New Orleans.

John is an architect and artist in New Orleans, Louisiana. By day, he works at Waggonner & Ball Architecture/Environment on buildings and urban design projects focused on water management and adaptations to climate change. By night, he draws, makes prints, and is a partner in Shallow Studio, an art and architecture practice that works to uncover hidden stories in strange sites through interactive installations. He is a design consultant to Ripple Effect, a non-profit working to build water literacy in New Orleans schools.