Carolina Aragón

MLA, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2004

BArch, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2001

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

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 Aragón'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. Aragón's 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.

Professor Aragón 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. She is also the founder of Art for Public Good, a group that engages with scientists, community groups, civic agencies, schools, and youth organizations to co-create art projects to bring better understanding and provide actionable paths for addressing environmental and health challenges.

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

• (2023) High Tide selected for gallery inclusion in the U.S. Fifth National Climate Assessment, Art x Climate.
• (2021) Rebecca Ballestra International Climate Communication Award, Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (CMCC).
• (2021) Distinguished Community Engagement Award for Research, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
• (2021) Merit Award in Communications, Seeing the Future: Four Art Installations about Sea Level Rise in Boston, MA, Boston Society of Landscape Architects

• Mah, A., Aragón, C., & Markowitz, E. (2024). Visualizing Hope: Investigating the effect of public art on risk perception and awareness of climate adaptation. Weather, Climate, and Society. 16(1), 185-204.
• Aragón, C., Buxton, J., & Estrella-Luna, N. (2023). FUTUREWATERS | AGUASFUTURAS: INVESTIGATING SALIENCE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING PUBLIC ART AS A TOOL IN SEA LEVEL RISE COMMUNICATION. Landscape Research Record 12.
• Aragón, C., Nasim, M., & Mahyar, N. (2021). RisingEMOTIONS: Bridging Art and Technology to Visualize Public's Emotions about Climate Change. Creativity & Cognition (C&C'21). June 22-23, 2021, Virtual Event, Italy.

• Andrews, A. (2025, September 12). Cambridge art installation uses technology to show impacts of extreme heat in Massachusetts. CBS News Boston.
• Climate.gov Staff. (2024, November 22) 'High Tide' from the Art X Climate Gallery. NOAA Climate.
• Gonzalez, L. (2024, June 27). SWarm Taking Flight in Springfield. Cooler Communities.
• (2024, June 18). LARP's Carolina Aragon Creates "sWARM" Art Installation to Raise Awareness about Extreme Heat in Classrooms. Inside UMass.
• (2024, June 11). Landscape Architecture Faculty & Students Team up for Springfield Science Museum Exhibition. UMass SBS.
• Canton, D. (2024, June 1). Inside a novel Mass. art project that illustrates planetary warming. Mass Live.
• Mi Lee, K. (2021 July 2). In Fort Point, Public Art Helps Visualize Rising Sea Levels. The Boston Globe.
• Laucharoen, S. (2021, June 16). Fort Point Channel Sculptures Models How High the Water Could Rise in the City. The ARTery. WBUR Blog.
• Betancourt, S. (2019, December 6). Carolina Aragón using art to highlight Eastie climate change. Commonwealth Magazine.
• Lynds, J. (2018, November 29). New Art Installation on Greenway Draws Attention to Climate Change. East Boston Times - Free Press.
• (2016). Time and Tide: Carolina Aragon Creates Powerful Public Art in Boston. UMass Magazine, Fall 2016.

• sWarm: an installation about extreme heat, Springfield Science Museum, MA (2024).

• ThermoQuilts: visualizing temperature change, Duggan Academy, Springfield, MA (2023)

• FutureSHORELINE, Fort Point Channel, Boston, MA (2020-2021)

• RisingEMOTIONS, Mary Ellen Welch Greenway, East Boston, MA (2019-2020)

• FutureWATERS | AGUASfuturas, East Boston, MA (2018)