BALTIMORE, MD.- The Maryland Institute College of Art opened "Land/Trust," an exhibition of six local, national and international contemporary artists exploring their relationships to the land and their positions as community activists, caretakers, investigators and researchers in an era of ecological crisis. In forging these intimate relationships, the participating artists illuminate systematically neglected spaces, question imposed political and social boundaries and facilitate conversations on issues of ownership and possession of the ground we travel on everyday. Accompanying the exhibition will be a panel discussion, artist talks, film screenings and a Toxic Tour led by Glenn Ross.

Featured artists include Margaret Boozer, Demian DinéYazhi´, MICA's Rinehart School of Sculpture M.F.A. Director Maren Hassinger, Mary Mattingly, Nadia Myre and Glenn Ross.

"Land/Trust" was organized by the Curatorial Practice M.F.A. class of 2019 under the direction of José Ruiz, director of the M.F.A. in Curatorial Practice program, and Gerald Ross, director of exhibitions.

The exhibition was curated by Jingyao (Joan) Cen, Jared Christensen, Rhonda Dallas, Maria Emilia Duno, Margo Elsayd, Joshua Gamma, Tracey Jen, Minzi Li, Allie Linn, Joseph Orzal and Jiayi Zhong.

Margaret Boozer (b. 1966 Anniston, AL) explores the intersection of art and science through ongoing research into native clays and soils. Recent exhibitions include Harbor Studies at Michael Warren Contemporary in Denver and Dirt Drawings at the Katzen Arts Center at American University. Boozer lives and works in Prince George’s County, Maryland.

Demian DinéYazhi’ (b. 1983 Gallup, NM) is a Diné artist working to address decolonization, queerness, and feminism through poetry, posters, publications, and new media. Recent projects include Locusts: A Post-Queer Nation Zine and Death Dance at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. DinéYazhi´ lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Maren Hassinger (b. 1947 Los Angeles, CA) explores changes in nature in relationship to people through installation, video, and sculpture. Recent exhibitions include Magnetic Fields at the National Museum of Women in the Arts and We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85, which has traveled to multiple institutions. Hassinger lives and works in New York.

Mary Mattingly (b. 1978 Rockville, CT) creates living systems from existing industrial and military infrastructure to investigate humans' relationships with each other, with wild and urban space, and with corporate and political entities. Recent projects include Swale, a public, floating food forest on a barge in New York City, and WetLand in Sag Harbor, NY. Mattingly lives and works in New York.

Nadia Myre (b. 1974 Montreal, QC) employs collaborative processes as a strategy for engaging in conversations about identity, resilience, and the politics of belonging. Recent exhibitions include Code Switching at the Musée des Beaux-arts de Montréal and Decolonial Gesture or Doing it Wrong? Refaire le Chemin at the McCord Museum. Myre lives and works in Montreal where she is represented by Art Mûr.

Glenn Ross (b. 1949 Baltimore, MD) is an activist, urban environmentalist, and community organizer from East Baltimore who has been conducting Toxic Tours for over a decade in order to teach residents about the environmental hazards of Baltimore’s landscape. Recent exhibitions include Headquarters: Investigating the Creation of the Ghetto and the Prison Industrial Complex and Crowd of the Person, two multi-sited projects presented by The Contemporary from 2005 to 2006 in Baltimore. Ross lives and works in Baltimore.