Classically trained as a landscape painter, Mariah Reading realized that using new canvases and materials was harming the environments she loved to depict in her work. Pivoting to a “zero-waste practice,” she started collecting litter during her cross-country travels to the country’s national parks.
From discarded helmets and leather gloves to plastic boxes and even a folding chair, she uses found objects as her canvas, painting protected landscape environments on their surfaces and photographing them against their real-life references.
As an Artist in Residence at Denali, Zion, Guadalupe Mountains, and Acadia National Parks, Reading has expanded her body of work right from these park sites.
She also volunteers as an Arts in the Parks coordinator, leading conservation workshops and creative curriculum for students of all ages.
She’s logged thousands of miles traveling across the country’s historic parks and told People Magazine that she realizes the materials she uses now will never be in short supply.
"There's a lifetime of work to be done," she told the magazine.
“It is now more critical than ever to leave no trace,” Reading added in an artist statement on her website.
“When our public lands are not vigilantly protected, the detrimental effects cannot be ignored. My practice revolves around ways I can lessen my footprint upon Earth and leave it better than I found it.”
In recent months, as park rangers have been instructed to remove informational materials around topics like social injustice, colonialism, and climate change, Reading has shared that her work takes on an even greater importance.
“I originally made this piece during Covid and titled it ‘Lend a Hand,’” Reading wrote about an artwork she painted on a discarded glove in Acadia National Park.
“However, with [this week being] the week park employees were forced to take down messaging and facts about climate change and Indigenous history, I think this title takes on a new meaning. Continue to teach and share science, continue to protect the public lands nearest you, continue to support your community.”
A version of this article was originally published in The 2025 National Parks Edition of the Goodnewspaper.
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Header image courtesy of Mariah Reading
