Krippendorf Pawpaw Grove draws on influences from the Krippendorf Lodge interior, exterior, and the pawpaw grove nearby. A reinterpretation of pawpaw trees supports a glass panel etched with the artist’s drawing of a low-relief mural located in the lodge. The mural is not always visible to Nature center attendees. Numerous woodland creatures and native plants can be found in the imagery.

How many creatures can you find?

The leaves of the portal’s pawpaw are made of stained glass and resin so that light can pass through. The structure, located in the Krippendorf Arboretum on the Mashburn Family Discovery Trail, is made from wood, glass, metal, paint, resin, and Hydrostone.

Fauna is inspired by abandoned stone structures built in forests that were once inhabited by residents and left to be reclaimed by nature. The oval at the top contains sandcast, sculpted, and stained-glass elements. The optic display will change with the light of the day. The gray bark and stone-like sections of the portal contain numerous forest fauna.

How many animals, insects, and flowers can you find? How many are native? Are there any invasive species?

This structure, located on the Mashburn Family Discovery Trail, is made from wood, Hydrostone, glass, metal, resin, polystyrene, and vinyl. There are reflective glass beads incorporated into the surface of the gray sections which will glow if a light is shining on it at dusk or dark.

Field Flora is inspired by field flowers that are ever present in meadows and prairie habitats. The heads of each flower contain insects, flowers, or creatures found at the Nature Center.

Meadows are important to support pollinators and native creatures, and Field Flora honors those connections through the interconnected structures and imagery.

How many critters can you find?

This structure, located on the Upland Trail, is painted with phosphorescent paint and will glow in the moonlight. It is constructed out of wood, metal, Hydrostone, paint, and a reclaimed chandelier.

Tributary is a whimsical take on a tree that has been windswept as it sits near a stream. The broad flat sections of the tree canopy contain a carved map of the Ohio River basin that has been filled with resin and holographic elements to mimic water. The chosen colors of the tree take you through each season.

Can you locate the Cincinnati Nature Center in the tributary system? (HINT: It is an earth gem.)

This portal, located on the Geology Trail, is constructed of wood, paint, metal, and resin.

Molly Jo Burke and Nathan Gorgen formed Byproduct Studios in 2017. They are an artist and designer couple who collaborate on artwork that raises issues of environmentalism and waste, and the nature of the materials and objects that surround their everyday lives. They use the excess material left behind by their respective processes to create their collaborative work.

For Cincinnati Nature Center’s forest portals project, funded in part through Artswave, Burke and Gorgen wanted to invite viewers to find whimsy and fantastical moments with the sculptures but also have opportunities to learn about the flora, fauna, and terrain of southwestern Ohio. Each sculpture has hidden seek-and-find elements or reveals something about the region, or the history of Cincinnati Nature Center itself.