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Courtesy Photo Claire Coté holding willow catkins and sketch by the Red River at Eagle Rock Lake

Nature’s Healing Power Featured In “Seasons of Resilience”

Courtesy Photo “El Nogal Flurry, 38° F,” 12″ x 12″ oil on panel by Nicole Thibodeau

Artists Claire Coté and Nicole Thibodeau will present their mixed-media exhibition entitled “Seasons of Resilience” at the Wildflower Playhouse Gallery in Taos, N.M., from June 10 through July 20, 2025. A public reception is scheduled for Friday, June 20, from 4 to 6 p.m., with artist talks beginning at 5:30 p.m.
The exhibition is the result of a yearlong creative journey spent outdoors, where the artists engaged with ecological cycles and their surrounding landscapes. Both Coté and Thibodeau found artistic inspiration and emotional refuge in local natural environments, translating these intimate experiences into paintings, soundscapes, sculpture, and installation works.


“My premise was simple: show up at the lake with an attitude of gentle curiosity, walk, observe, and reflect,” said Coté, who frequented Eagle Rock Lake in Questa for her daily practice. “After a year of doing this four days a week, I’m completely addicted! I’ve accumulated hundreds of photos, videos, sketches, sound recordings, and observations. I now think of these plants, trees, birds, animals, insects and even the rocks, lake, and Red River as my neighbors; we should all get to know our neighbors!”


For Thibodeau, creative sessions at the El Nogal trailhead near Taos offered a similar sense of connection and creative output.


“This ritual of returning to the same places through seasonal and personal changes has become a practice of generating resilience and also provides inspiring opportunities to observe Nature’s tenacity and intelligence,” she said.


The exhibition features individual and collaborative works made with oil paint, watercolor, cyanotype, clay, black tea, sound, photography, and found natural materials. The duo also presents a joint installation blending natural elements, sound, and citizen science, embodying the show’s themes of attentiveness, environmental stewardship, and artistic experimentation.


Coté and Thibodeau, both northern New Mexico natives, have collaborated before, including their 2023 exhibition, “The Blue Show,” at the Questa Public Library. At the end of 2024, the artists realized their practices had once again begun to become parallel, leading to the planning of this show.


Thibodeau holds an MFA and MA in English from Fort Hays State University and currently works as a literacy tutor while maintaining her El Prado studio. Coté, an artist-mother and director of community art programs LEAP and Voices of the Northern Rio Grande, earned her MA in art and ecology from Dartington College of Art in the U.K. She works from her home and studio in Sunshine Valley.


The exhibition is curated by Taos artist Melissa Lind as part of Wildflower Playhouse’s rotating gallery series. It is also affiliated with the global Taking. Up. Space. initiative facilitated by Rise and Repaint, a grassroots movement aimed at empowering female-identifying artists through widespread, independently organized exhibitions. “Seasons of Resilience” is one of more than 20 shows taking place worldwide under the #takingupspace2025 campaign.


The Wildflower Playhouse Gallery, located at 1339 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, is open during theater events and by appointment. For more information, contact Claire Coté at (575) 224-9066.

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