Trena Noval Projects
This is a portal to recent creative projects for Trena Noval
Larger website is currently under construction - more to come soon…
one day / one action is a public art project commissioned by the City of San José, California. It is designed to connect residents with the pressing issue of the climate crisis. Grounded in community stories, conversations, and creative engagements, one day / one action provides everyday actions and practices for exploring well-being. The project aims to raise awareness and foster connections to our local environments and communities, encouraging individuals to take small steps toward living more sustainably.
Stewarding Knowledges is an eco-cultural project supported by The Center for the Study of the Force Majeure (CFM) and the Gatekeepers and Indian Basket Museum (Tahoe). This initiative brings together Wà:šiw basketmakers and singers, along with public artists and scientists, to foster public dialogue and collaboratively plan for resilient landscapes. We are initiating conversations about the Rights of Nature and the future of Da’aw’ 'Tahoe’ as well as the regional Tahoe Basin, which are the original homelands of the Wà:šiw people. Our collective of artists and scientists is committed to honoring these lands by decolonizing the design of our stewardship process and placing Indigenous Knowledges at the center of our efforts.
3rd Space Lab Collective is a women-led, multinational, and multicultural artist collective based in Bengaluru, India, and San Francisco, California. Since its founding in 2012, the collective has focused on creating opportunities to foster a deeper understanding of cultural differences through collaborative discussions, art and design projects, public events, and presentations. Our approach emphasizes cultivating connections through creative processes. We draw inspiration from the landscape as a space for sharing stories and discovering commonalities, serveing as a resilient model that leads us toward healing, care, and community. The collective members include Lalitha Shankar and Shamala Nandesha from India, and Trena Noval and Shalini Agrawal from the U.S.
Fieldworks Collaborative was established by artists and researchers Trena Noval and Ann Wettrich to create public platforms for creative inquiry and collaborative practices that respond to contemporary cultural and environmental issues. Grounded in a deep connection to place, we explore the intersections of nature and culture to foster discovery through collective encounters and experiences. Our methods are influenced by art and design-based research practices as well as relational actions conducted in the public realm. We strive to build alternative structures that encourage collaborative knowledge construction.
Observation and Conversation at the Albany Bulb. Does the Land have Power? In the ever-changing histories that unfold along the shores of San Francisco Bay, the construction debris landfill known as the Albany Bulb has evaded multiple attempts to be captured and enclosed.
What is the nature of the power possessed by this unusual land? Starting with the belief that land has power, we guided participants through an experience of listening, sharing impressions, exchanging knowledge, and creating new narratives within this surprising landscape. Together, we crafted a collective performance in the fields of the Albany Bulb that recounted a new story of this place.
Fluid Cities is an interactive creative research project that encourages communities to think about designing reciprocal relationships with the land in urban areas. Commissioned by the Stanford University dSchool Human Centered Cities Initiative and the Tangible and Intangible Heritage(s) program at the University of East London, UK, this project is a collaboration with urban designers Carol Mancke and Deland Chan.