Carolina Aragón
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture

Bio
M.L.A., Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2004
B.Arch, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2001
Carolina Aragón is an artist and educator who uses public art to transform landscapes, engage communities, and teach students. She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and a Bachelor of Architecture from the Savannah College of Art and Design. Her artwork, inspired by natural phenomena, seeks to create moments of increased connection to place and environmental understanding through moments of wonder and play.
As an assistant professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Carolina’s work blends artistry and transdisciplinary practices that bring together research, craft, and community engagement. Her work embodies a view of public art as a medium for experimenting with innovative materials, transforming urban landscapes, and engaging communities—especially around issues of climate change. Her most recent art installations include FutureSHORELINE, a floating and land installation depicting future levels of sea level rise and proposed climate adaptation strategies for the Fort Point Channel and several other artworks like RisingEMOTIONS, FutureWATERS/AGUASfuturas, and High Tide which have visualized future flooding due to sea level rise in several areas of Boston, MA.
Carolina has been named as one of 2020 CODAworx Creative Revolutionaries; her artwork has been displayed at the World Bank’s Art of Resilience Exhibition 2019 in Washington, DC, as well as showcased in multiple venues, including the National Park Service’s video: 100 Years of Arts in the Parks.
Courses
SUSTCOMM/LANDARCH 197A - Introduction to Sustainable Planning & Design
LANDARCH 397B - Studio III Public Space design
LANDARCH 501 - Studio I Introduction to Landscape Design & Representation
SUSTCOMM 297L - Visual Communication: Design Principles & Digital Skills
Recent Publications
Public Art
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"sWARM" by CAROLINA ARAGON with ART FOR PUBLIC GOOD, COOLER COMMUNITIES, DUGGAN ACADEMY, and UMASS LARP (Spring/Summer 2024)
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"FutureSHORELINE" (2021)
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"RisingEMOTIONS" (2020)
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"FutureWATERS | AGUASfuturas" (2018)
In the News
- 'High Tide' from the Art X Climate Gallery (NOAA Climate, November 22, 2024)
- 'High Tide' in the Fifth National Climate Assessment Art X Climate Gallery (NCA, 2023)
- SWarm Taking Flight in Springfield (Cooler Communities, June 27, 2024)
- LARP's Carolina Aragon Creates "sWARM" Art Installation to Raise Awareness about Extreme Heat in Classrooms (Inside UMass, June 18, 2024)
- Landscape Architecture Faculty & Students Team up for Springfield Science Museum Exhibition (UMass SBS, June 11, 2024)
- Inside a novel Mass. art project that illustrates planetary warming (Mass Live, June 1, 2024)
- Project sWARM brings awareness to extreme heat in Western Mass schools (UMass LARP, 2024)
- Inside a novel Mass. art project that illustrates planetary warming (Springfield Republican, June 1, 2024)
- Fort Point Channel Sculptures Models How High the Water Could Rise in the City (WBUR, June 16, 2021)
- Carolina Aragón using art to highlight Eastie climate change. (December 6, 2019)
- TIME AND TIDE: Carolina Aragón creates powerful public art in Boston (UMass Magazine, Fall 2016)
- StARTup Studio: Carolina Aragón - Interview with Innovate 413 (July 20, 2016)
- Carolina Aragón made part of the "The Artist's Experience" - Video by National Park Service (July 7, 2016)
- “High Tide” Comes to Cross Street Through Greenway’s Public Art Exhibit (May 11, 2016)