Capstone Project

Abigail Downard’s capstone series brings together the plants and animals of Northern Arizona in intimate watercolor studies that highlight the interdependence of life in the high desert. Her work pairs representative native plants, including Fendler’s globemallow, common purslane, sideoats grama, Indian ricegrass, wholeleaf paintbrush, and wirestem buckwheat, with animals that move among them as part of a larger biotic community. Bees, butterflies, moths, birds, and a mouse appear not as isolated subjects, but as fellow participants in an ecological world shaped by reciprocity, adaptation, and place.

At the heart of the project is a simple but important idea: the beauty of the Colorado Plateau is not only found in individual species, but in the relationships that bind them together. Abigail’s paintings invite viewers to look more closely at the flora and fauna of the region and to recognize the subtle networks of dependence that sustain life in the high desert. In doing so, the series also reflects on the human place within this community and encourages a deeper appreciation for the living systems that surround us.

This body of work was developed as Abigail completes her undergraduate capstone in fine art at Northern Arizona University. The project has its roots in a grant-funded study supported by NAU on the living roof of the Easton Collection Center at the Museum of Northern Arizona. That connection is especially meaningful, as Abigail is the neighbor of Jim Roberts, the principal architect behind the design of the building and its roof.

Design details of the living roof at the Easton Collection Center at the Museum of Northern Arizona: © Jim Roberts principal architect with Roberts|Jones Associates