Since 2024, 12 artists were appointed to undertake a series of Associate Artists Residencies across Wales, as part of the Natur am Byth Arts Engagement programme, which is made possible with funding from the Arts Council of Wales.
The residencies have worked with communities within each of our place-based projects, to develop a varied range of artwork that addressed the issue of species extinction and the wellbeing of people living close by our rarest species in Wales.
Each artwork tells a fascinating story of our most vulnerable species in Wales, and the importance of nature connection to human wellbeing.
Each artist created a short film to showcase their work, which we streamed at an exclusive streaming event to share the final works.
Below is a video we created with our resident artists about the art and community work they've done. You can also take a look at each artists individual works below.
As the Creative Lead for the Natur am Byth Arts Engagement Programme, Addo brings curatorial expertise and a deep understanding of the power of art to transform how we see and connect with the natural world. Working in close partnership with Natural Resources Wales and the Natur am Byth project partners, Addo has developed an ambitious, inclusive arts strategy that places Wales’ rare and often overlooked species at the centre of imaginative, place-based storytelling.
Recognising the barriers to connecting with elusive and fragile species, Addo’s curatorial approach reframes them not as inaccessible but as inspiring catalysts for community dialogue, wellbeing, emotional connection, and cultural expression.
Their approach bridges the worlds of ecology, community, and creativity, using the arts to bring visibility to the unseen and amplify the voices of both species and people often left out of mainstream narratives.
Central to this vision was the commissioning of a team of Associate Artists commissioned to work at key locations across Wales. Addo led the selection process and provided ongoing mentoring and support, embedding each artist within a specific community and ecological context. Through this place-based model, artists co-created works that reflect the richness of local experience, giving voice to endangered species and the communities that share their habitats. Addo cultivated a spirit of experimentation, care, and collaboration—supporting the artists to produce work that is both deeply rooted in place and artistically ambitious.
As the projects unfolded, Addo worked with the artists and project partners to ensure the outcomes were accessible to a wider audience, supporting the dissemination of the work through the People’s Collection Wales digital archive and the new Natur am Byth website.
These high-quality outcomes reflect the diversity and creativity of the artists and communities involved, while also embodying the programme’s core values: inclusion, bilingualism, and lasting legacy.
The Natur am Byth Arts Engagement Programme champions the role of artists in revealing the invisible, celebrating the small and vulnerable, and restoring vital connections between people and the natural world.
Building on the success of the initial phase, Addo’s role has now been extended to support further community engagement and to curate a major public exhibition at Tŷ Pawb – a dynamic cultural hub in Wrexham. This exhibition will showcase the extraordinary body of artwork produced through the programme, creating a national platform for the voices, species, and stories that have emerged from this groundbreaking collaboration between art and conservation.
If you'd like to watch the full event, including short films from all the artists as well as segments from Natur am Byth funders, you can see it here.