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Pho​tograph by Jackson Newman

Max Sorenson is a conservationist and artist engaged with the work and material of ecological restoration. His work seeks to examine and expand what human stewardship of land might look like in an era of declining biodiversity and bioabundance. Mirroring the structure of terrestrial ecosystems, his work is rooted in the plant life foundational to our human and non-human communities. His drawings, installations, and explorations of natural material often borrow qualities of repetition, attention, and close-looking characteristic to many land management activities, including seed collection, plant identification, and timber cruising. This work includes drawings made by walking through areas recently exposed to prescribed fire and meticulous ink drawings done directly on the surfaces of leaves. Ultimately, he is interested in promoting a widespread and joyous re-connection to the entirety of our communities of life.

Max holds a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Biology from Grinnell College in rural Iowa. In 2025, he was an Artist-in-Residence at Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, creating work focused on ecological disturbance and Bernheim's unique mosaic of curated and wild plant communities. Max has also been a resident or visiting artist at the Aldo Leopold Foundation, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Cedar Point Biological Station, and Tranquilo Bay Eco-Adventure Lodge in Bocas del Toro, Panamá. He has shown work throughout the Midwest and in New Mexico, where he was a 2024-25 Emerging Artist at Strata Gallery in Santa Fe. 

 

Max is currently based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he works as a Habitat Technician at Mississippi Valley Conservancy, a regional land trust that protects over 26,000 acres of bluffland, prairie, wetland, and wooded habitat across 9 counties in Driftless Wisconsin.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2022

Grinnell College, B.A., Studio Art (with honors) and Biology (with honors)

Grinnell, IA

Selected Exhibtions

Solo

2025

2022

Margin, Strata Gallery

Santa Fe, NM

Leaves/Traces, Edith Renfrow Smith '37 Gallery, Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA

Group

2025

Locally Sourced, Center for the Visual Arts

Wausau, WI

2024

Taos Abstract Artist Collective Fall Exhibition, Stables Gallery, Taos Center for the Arts

Taos, NM

4th Annual Member Group Show, Strata Gallery

Santa Fe, NM

Rituals for Now, fourteenfifteen/ALPACA

Albuquerque, NM

Fun-A-Day, fourteenfifteen/ALPACA

Albuquerque, NM

2023

Nature's Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Fragility and Resilience, Playhouse Gallery, The Overture Center for the Arts

Madison, WI

2022

Local Artist Showcase, Portage Center for the Arts

Portage, WI

Bachelor of Arts eXhibition (BAX), Grinnell College Museum of Art (GCMOA), Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA

2021

Bachelor of Arts eXhibition (BAX), Grinnell College Museum of Art (GCMOA), Grinnell College

Grinnell, IA

Awards, Residencies, and Honors

2025

Residency, Bernheim Forest and Arboretum

Clermont, KY

2024

Emerging Artist, Strata Gallery

Santa Fe, NM

2023

Visiting Artist, The Aldo Leopold Foundation

Baraboo, WI

Residency, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cedar Point Biological Station

Ogallala, NE

2021

Residency, Tranquilo Bay Eco-Adventure Lodge

Bocas del Toro, Panamá

Selected Talks, Workshops, and Classes

2025

A Circle through Time: Guided Hike with 2025 Artist-in-Residence, 

Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, guided interpretive hike

Clermont, KY

The Lines We Leave: Ecological Restoration in the Modern Southwest

Strata Gallery and the Institute for Applied Ecology Southwest Office, artist talk and community event

Santa Fe, NM

Firelines: Walking and Drawing in Recently Burned Prairies, The Prairie Enthusiasts Annual Conference: “Finding Your Place in the Prairie,” virtual artist talk

Viroqua, WI

2024

Drawing a Land Ethic, Leopold Week 2024, The Aldo Leopold Foundation and The Overture Center for the Arts, artist talk

Madison, WI

Introduction to Foraged/Found Material Inkmaking, The Groove Artspace, workshop

Albuquerque, NM

2023

Barn Quilts, Leopold, and Our Rural Plant Communities, Great Midwest Crane Festival 2023, The Aldo Leopold Foundation and The International Crane Foundation, workshop

Baraboo, WI

Barn Quilts, Leopold’s Land Aesthetic, and Our Rural Plant Communities, Future Leaders Program, The Aldo Leopold Foundation, workshop

Baraboo, WI

Barn Quilts and Our Rural Plant Communities, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Cedar Point Biological Station, workshop

Ogallala, NE

Publications

2025

The Prairie Promoter: Igniting Relationships with the Land, Spring 2025, “Artist’s Project: RxWalk,” The Prairie Enthusiasts, (pgs. 16-17) https://theprairieenthusiasts .org/wpcontent/uploads/2025/04/2025_03_Spring_ThePrairiePromoter_Web.pdf

Viroqua, WI

Southwest Contemporary Vol. 11: The Hyperlocal, featured artist, Southwest 

Contemporary, (pgs. 76-77) https://southwestcontemporary.com/m ax-sorenson/

Santa Fe, NM

2024

Strata Gallery 4th Annual Member Group Show Catalog, Strata Gallery,

https://heyzine.com/flip-book/6e8596929f.html (Pgs. 19-20)

Santa Fe, NM

The Mad Agriculture Journal Issue 11, Mad Agriculture

Boulder, CO

2023

Imagine Vol. 1, 2073, Wormfarm Institute, https://issuu.com/wormfarm/docs/2023 _zine_final_forweb (Pg. 30)

Reedsburg, WI

2021

European Art and Architecture in Ink, Grinnell College Press

Grinnell, IA

Press

2024

Jonnah Perkins, “RxReturn: Inside the Artist’s Process”,  The Mad Agriculture Journal, https://madagri culture.org/journal/rx-return

Hope Horne, “Celebrating Aldo Leopold Week 2024: Embracing the Land Ethic”, Overture Center for the Arts, https://www.overture.org/blog/2024-february-aldo-leopold-week/

2023

Susan Bence, “Next generation carries on Aldo Leopold's principles of stewardship in Wisconsin," WUWM 89.7, https://www.wuwm.com/2023-04-19/next-generation-carries-on-aldoleopol ds-principles-of-stewardship-in-wisconsin

2022

Jane Hoffman, “Museum of Art opens 2022 Bachelor of Arts Exhibition,” The Scarlet & Blackhttps://thesandb.com/40966/article/museum-of-art-opens-2022-bachelor-of-arts-exhibition/

Lena Weib, ““Leaves/Traces puts down roots at Smith,” The Scarlet & Blackhttps://thesandb.com/40 611/article/leaves-traces-puts-down-roots-at-smith/

Permanent Collections

Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, Clermont, KY

Grinnell College, Department of Biology, Grinnell, IA

Grinnell College, Center for Prairie Studies, Grinnell, IA

Contact

  • Instagram

@maxcsorenson

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