Written and animated by Hubbard Brook Research Foundation’s Raisa Kochmaruk.

Inspired by a Xavier Cortada DO NOT OPEN workshop held in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest this summer.

Cortada about DO NOT OPEN: “In “DO NOT OPEN,” I ask residents to write letters to the future. I do so because today, many of their neighbors aren’t willing to listen. Today, too many are in denial about the human impact on global climate change. For many, denial comes easier than visualizing the future impact of rising seas on their community. Our words fall on deaf ears.”

Cortada spent time in the Forest as a member of the 2024 Urban Field Station Collaborative Arts Program cohort, marking the program’s 8th year.