Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor

A new exhibition at the Divinity School invites viewers to connect with the land spiritually by paying attention to their natural surroundings. 

“This World Where We Live: A Celebration of the Land at Yale Divinity School” had its opening reception on Monday afternoon. Installed on March 21, it will remain on display through the end of the academic year. Curated by Chris Freimuth DIV ’25, the exhibit offers viewers a multisensory experience of trees and perennials, branches, rocks and soil from the Divinity School property.

“The idea was to collect primarily materials from the property of the Divinity School,” Freimuth told the News, explaining that the purpose of the exhibit was to envelop people through all of the senses and encourage them to go outside. “It was to sort of say ‘Guess what? Everything that you’re looking at? It’s outside.’”

The exhibit features an audio component of bird song, spring peepers and crickets. On the tables, there are bowls made by a local potter filled with acorns and seeds from hemlocks and sweet gum trees. Attendees are encouraged to put their hands in the bowls and feel the natural materials. The exhibit also includes fragrant twigs from some plants on the YDS property. 

Freimuth’s intentions behind these sensory elements are not only to showcase the beauty of the local environment, but also to invite a deeper spiritual connection with nature. 

“One of the most enjoyable and effective ways to do that is to is to fall in love with the world, become very enchanted with it, and remember how lovely it is and how connected to it we actually are, so that we’re motivated in our activism by love and connection rather than by obligation,” said Freimuth.

That attentiveness — to both people and place — has made itself into the very fabric of the exhibition. 

Donghyung Lee DIV ’27, said that the artwork exemplified Freimuth’s warmth and attentiveness, as the way Freimuth interacts with people “reflects the way he values nature.”

Lee said one of his favorite pieces was the arrangement of live flowers on the table, adding that the exhibition as a whole allowed him to appreciate the nature he inhabits. He also highlighted the exhibition’s location, Croll Hall, saying that its centrality makes the art accessible to a wide range of students at YDS.

For Lee, the exhibition also embodied the mission of YDS and the potential of religious reflection for creating change in the world.

“I see environmental issues as a theological task and responsibility that we can no longer ignore,” he said. “Theological reflection may not provide scientific data or technical solutions, but it provides an ethical framework that makes such efforts possible.”

Arturo Perez Balderrama DIV ’27 said he thought the exhibition was a fitting way to welcome the Spring season. He said the themes of nature that Freimuth explored in his artwork encouraged viewers to consider and contemplate the divinity all around us.

“I think there’s a divine presence in every living being,” said Balderrama. “With the new exhibition, Croll Entrance Hall feels more alive.”

Balderrama also noted that the exhibition aligns with YDS’ broader commitment to sustainability, pointing to the Living Village Project, which will create affordable net-positive-energy housing for students.

Balderramaa said the exhibition complements these institutional efforts: by encouraging personal encounters with the natural world, viewers are reminded of what is at stake and why the environment is worth protecting.

“This World Where We Live: A Celebration of the Land at Yale Divinity School” will be open through commencement from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.