Trena Noval’s interdisciplinary work crosses experience design, social practice, science, digital media, community engagement and food adventures. At the heart of her work is the investigation of cultural and natural ecosystems, experiences of everyday life, radical hospitality and research as an art platform. Over the last decade, collaboration has become an important part of her work process. Currently she has been exploring the role of collective thinking and actions in a variety of contexts with others, forming communities of mutual practice.

Noval is the lead artist for Citizen Science and Art: The Native Bee Project, with scientist Gretchen LeBuhn, to explore community based environmental stewardship though design-build projects and backyard science experiences. She is a 2014-2015 Irvine Fellow at the Lucas Artists Residency Program at Montalvo Arts Center and a 2014/2015 San Jose Public Art Commission recipient for the East Santa Clara Urban Village Project, working with an artist team to infuse artistic approaches into community urban planning process. She is a co-partner in Fieldworks Collaborative with artist Ann Wettrich, a project about place making, creative inquiry and collaborative systems that explore the world we live in. Noval’s work and projects have been exhibited widely, including most recently at the Oakland Museum of California, National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore, India, and the Exploratorium Bay Observatory.

In 2012, Noval and Bangalore artist Lalitha Shankar founded 3^rd Space Lab Collective, whose mission is to establish a global commons exploring Bangalore India, and the San Francisco Bay Area. As a cultural exchange collective with artists from the Bay Area and Bangalore, India, 3^rd Space Lab is interested in forming a new landscape of merged cultural thinking and identity through developing a mutual art practice.

http://www.3rdspacelabcollective.com/

http://www.fieldworkscollaborative.com/