Artist working at the intersection of ecology, social practice, and decolonial environmental systems.

Juan William Chávez (he/him) A 2012 Guggenheim Fellow, is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and beekeeper whose work transforms ecology into a shared social and ceremonial relationship through art. Working across social practice, public art, installation, agriculture, sound, and pedagogy, he creates long-term ecological and community-based projects that connect land stewardship, food sovereignty, environmental justice, and decolonial practice through collaborative cultural production.

Grounded in his Indigenous Latinx, Irish, and Peruvian heritage and his upbringing in St. Louis, Chávez draws on Andean philosophy and cosmology to understand ecology as a living system shaped by ritual, labor, migration, and reciprocal relationships to land. His practice integrates contemporary art, urban agriculture, pollinator stewardship, and public engagement to build spaces where ecological systems and community life are interdependent, extending art into public ecology and cultural infrastructure.

He has led major projects including Bloomberg Philanthropies’ 2024–2026 Public Art Challenge, Art Pollination, and the Native Bee Sanctuary series, presented at institutions such as El Museo del Barrio, Counterpublic 2023, and Artpace San Antonio. He is founder of Northside Workshop and Senior Lecturer at Washington University in St. Louis. His work is widely exhibited, supported, and published internationally.