Art.
Ecology.
Mindful Action.

From 2019 to 2022, the Arbor Institute was a work of social  art for environmental awareness, combining the arts and ecology with contemplative practice.

In a rapidly changing world we shifted our efforts to work with the Earth itself with the cultivation of Middle Way Garden, an agroecology land arts project and sacred place for growing, connecting, and healing ourselves and the Earth.

Our Story

The Arbor Institute’s mission is to create connection in a disconnected world, inspiring people to care for the planet.

For two years, our exhibition space in downtown Boulder, providing a home for a growing community of artists, ecologists, scientists, and spiritual practitioners to produce and host creative, multidisciplinary events, artworks, installations, and gatherings that combine art and contemplative practice with ecological experience.

Middle Way Garden, on the banks of Left hand Creek, grew out of the Arbor Institute and is our current social art focus. In a rapidly changing world we have shifted our emphasis to work with the Earth itself. The Garden is an agroecology land arts project and sacred place for growing, connecting, and healing ourselves and the Earth.

The Arbor Institute serves people of all ages and walks of life, offering creative opportunities to connect, to share in our love for the Earth, and to engage in mindful action during this time of profound ecological change.

The Arbor Institute’s mission is to create connection in a disconnected world, inspiring people to care for the planet.

For two years, our exhibition space in downtown Boulder, providing a home for a growing community of artists, ecologists, scientists, and spiritual practitioners to produce and host creative, multidisciplinary events, artworks, installations, and gatherings that combine art and contemplative practice with ecological experience.

Middle Way Garden, on the banks of Left hand Creek, grew out of the Arbor Institute and is our current social art focus. In a rapidly changing world we have shifted our emphasis to work with the Earth itself. The Garden is an agroecology land arts project and sacred place for growing, connecting, and healing ourselves and the Earth.

The Arbor Institute serves people of all ages and walks of life, offering creative opportunities to connect, to share in our love for the Earth, and to engage in mindful action during this time of profound ecological change.

Our Culture

In December 2019, the Arbor Institute opened its doors with a standing room only “Poetry for the Planet” event celebrating the winter solstice. The pandemic challenged us all to adapt and evolve with empathy and compassion. We asked ourselves one simple question: How can we best serve our community?

 The way was clear:

  • Connect with the Earth and tend it with care. 
  • Learn and share about the interrelationship of culture, justice, and climate.
  • Support BIPOC artists, leadership and collaborations. 
  • Help people come together safely in whatever way possible
  • Hold space for all emotions – grief and growth, pain and joy

These serve as the ground for all of Arbor’s programs.

The Arbor Institute is dedicated to the care and healing of the planet. This starts with the care and healing of ourselves and our communities.

As a culture, this is our commitment: to explore, grieve, and heal our own disconnection at the root of the climate crisis and species extinction, including racial, gender and social injustice perpetuated by systems of power.

Our Culture

In December 2019, the Arbor Institute opened its doors with a standing room only “Poetry for the Planet” event celebrating the winter solstice. The pandemic challenged us all to adapt and evolve with empathy and compassion. We asked ourselves one simple question: How can we best serve our community? The way was clear:

  • Connect with the Earth and tend it with care. 
  • Learn and share about the interrelationship of culture, justice, and climate.
  • Support BIPOC artists, leadership and collaborations. 
  • Help people come together safely in whatever way possible
  • Hold space for all emotions – grief and growth, pain and joy

These serve as the ground for all of Arbor’s programs.

The Arbor Institute is dedicated to the care and healing of the planet. This starts with the care and healing of ourselves and our communities.

As a culture, this is our commitment: to explore, grieve, and heal our own disconnection and the systemic racial, gender and social injustice and ecological extinction at the root of the climate crisis.

Social Justice = Environmental Justice

Our People

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David Levitt

Founding Director, Board Member
David's work is a labor of love. After years of creating independent artworks and architecture focused on the embodied experiences of human relationships and placemaking, he felt called to join with others to protect and restore the planet out of his profound love for the earth. | email David

David also leads the architectural firm of Levitt Architects, based in Los Angeles, California and Boulder, Colorado and worked previously on large-scale civic, museum and cultural projects for the international firm of Mitchell/Giurgola Architects. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, David received his B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from Cornell University and his Master of Architecture degree from Yale University.

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Jane Saltzman

Co-Director, Board Member
Jane coordinated the initial cultivation of Middle Way Garden in 2021 and provided services for organizational development and fundraising for the Arbor Institute.

Jane’s diverse background spans a career starting in Chicago politics which compelled her to train as a criminal defense lawyer and ultimately into mediation. From there she transformed her law background into running successful non-profits. Jane co-created Earth Vision Institute, launched alongside the documentary Chasing Ice. She was the Executive Director of Boulder’s Open Studios and co-founded LUCA Media Collective to support female-led film projects. She has film and TV projects in development and is a long-time performer of comedy improv. Jane received her BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder and her Juris Doctorate from Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology.

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Garret Moddel

Board Member
Garret Moddel is a professor of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado.

Along with developing new energy conversion technologies, his research group investigates psi phenomena. Currently he is serving as Vice President for the Society for Scientific Exploration, and was the organizations previous president, and prior to that, president & CEO of Phiar Corporation, a high-tech start-up company. Garret’s research interests are in the area of quantum engineering of new devices for energy conversion. With his lab he is developing new ultra-high-speed metal-insulator diodes for solar rectennas, devices that collect and rectify sunlight and waste heat. He also is investigating a technology for extracting energy from the quantum vacuum. Garret earned a BSEE degree from Stanford and MS and PhD degrees in Applied Physics from Harvard.

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Sam Sokyo Randall

Executive Director 2019-2021
Sam is passionate about helping people learn, heal, create and connect with each other. She brings over 30 years experience with creative programs, community organizing, design and installation art to the Arbor community and served as the director for the Arbor Institute downtown gallery from 2019-2022.

Prior to Arbor, Sam was the Creative Director for madelife in Boulder, CO, counter of circa|design, and faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture in Austin, TX. She has also served on the board of multiple non-profits locally and nationally and as the program manager at the CU Collegiate Recovery Center at the University of Colorado Boulder. Sam received her MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Design. Sam is a certified recovery coach and senior student with the Eon Zen Center in the White Plum Lineage.

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Blaine Alward

Volunteer 2019-2021
Blaine is an undergraduate in the Environmental Studies program at the University of Colorado Boulder. He intends to pursue further post-graduate education and complete a master’s program within the environmental field.

Having spent much of his life on or near the water, Blaine hopes to focus his studies on maintaining clean waterways through engineered ecological processes. You can find him participating in the annual Boulder Creek Cleanup or aimlessly exploring Indian Peaks Wilderness. Blaine is also passionate about peer mentoring fellow students at the University of Colorado who are beginning to discover their path in recovery.

Welcome 2020-2021 Intern : Morgan Golightly

Morgan Golightly

Intern 2020-2021
Morgan is an undergraduate student at Naropa University, currently finishing up her senior year studying art therapy and somatic movement therapy. She holds a deep passion for both art and intersectional activism.

Morgan is forever fascinated by the power art can hold – not only as a medium for one’s mental health but also as a messenger to the world. She hopes to use art and other mindful modalities in the future to help marginalized communities with their mental health and to help share their stories and experiences. She holds the firm belief that art has always and will always change the world by affecting culture. She is also a dancer and has been dancing for 10 years. She loves collaborating with performers and creating
emotional and fun pieces of choreography. Her favorite forms of dance are hip hop and belly dance. To her both movement and art are not only essential to our mental health but to our spirit and being as a whole.

2020 Volunteer : Julia Bridgforth

Julia Bridgforth

Volunteer 2020
Combining her love of art and passion for regenerative system solutions, Julia is a strategy-obsessed creative looking to empower communities through story.

She is on a mission to create space for herself and others to devise a Cultural Strategy in the fight for social and environmental justice. Julia is a world traveler, type-A creative, dedicated yogi, tree hugger, and off and on vegan.