About the Project

What Is Missing? is a multi-sited memorial to the planet created by Maya Lin to raise awareness through science-based artworks about the present sixth mass extinction of species, connect this loss of species to habitat degradation and loss, and emphasize that by protecting and restoring habitat, we can both reduce carbon emissions and protect species. 

TOGETHER WE CAN SAVE TWO BIRDS WITH ONE TREE.

WHAT IS MISSING? PRESENTS A CONNECTIVE MAP HIGHLIGHTING MEMORY, ACTION, AND HOPE.

Loss is merely the departure point. What Is Missing? is equally focused on solutions – imagining plausible visions for a sustainable future, showcasing what is being done around the world to help, and utilizing art to pose new ways of looking at the problems we face – giving us hope that each of us can make a difference.

EXPLORE - THE GLOBAL MAP OF MEMORY

The Map of Memory highlights ecological histories of habitats, species, waterways, cities, and pressing issues around the world - with timelines, videos, historic accounts, conservation success and disaster stories, and user-submitted personal memories.

Timelines on the Map of Memory enable people to explore deeper ecological histories of specific places or species, with awe inspiring accounts from oral histories, explorers, naturalists, writers, and artists. These timelines trace the gradual degradation of habitats and biodiversity through time, but also show how conservation has effectively restored natural places and helped species recover, emphasizing how resilient the natural world can be, if we protect it.

WHAT IS MISSING FOCUSES ATTENTION ON PHENOMENA THAT PEOPLE MAY NOT EVEN BE AWARE ARE DISAPPEARING.

Each successive generation accepts what they see as normal, not realizing what has been lost. And over time we forget how abundant the natural world once was. Scientists refer to this as shifting baselines.

HOW CAN WE PROTECT IT IF WE DON’T EVEN REALIZE IT’S MISSING?

The scale of species

The abundance of species

The ability of animals to migrate freely

The sounds of once common songbirds in our backyards

Rivers flowing freely to the sea

Clean water

Clean air

The visibility of stars at night

The memory of what this planet used to be

SHARE A MEMORY WITH US

The Map of Memory invites anyone to add their own memories to the map - something that you, or your parents or grandparents, have personally witnessed diminish or disappear from the natural world.

Or it can be a story of recovery, about ecological conservation, or restoration.

Individual contributions help to build a collective memory of the planet, connecting us in a personal way to the natural world and showing us what we’re losing in our own backyards - bringing personal relevance to the ecological crisis we all face and hopefully motivating us to act.

SOLUTIONS – A GREENPRINT FOR THE FUTURE

Using interactive maps and infographics to pose scenarios that help us visualize big picture solutions to the problems we face, Greenprint offers steps each one of us can take in our own lives to help make a difference. Sometimes if we can imagine it, we can achieve it. Greenprint shows us how.

By looking at how we live, where we live, and how we spend our money, Greenprint shows us how we can shrink our agricultural, urban, and suburban footprints, and implement best sustainable practices around the world, emphasizing how Nature Based Solutions reduce emissions and restore biodiversity.

WHAT IF – ART CAN HELP US RETHINK THE PROBLEMS WE FACE

Oftentimes with humor and a fresh outlook, What If? shows us how saving the planet is not too large a problem for any one of us to effect change, offering quick and surprising insights about the way we use resources, our impact on the environment, and the many solutions at hand.

What if we could rethink the human footprint?

If we all lived at the population density of Manhattan, how much space would 8 billion people take up?

We could all fit into the state of New Mexico…or the country of Paraguay, or Poland, or Vietnam. Is this a question of only population, or also land-use and resource consumption? Can we imagine rearranging the lights?

Can we learn to share the planet?

A MULTI-SITED MEMORIAL

What Is Missing? asks us to look at a memorial not as a singular, static object, but as a work that can exist in multiple forms and places around the world.

The memorial includes permanent sound and media sculptures, traveling exhibits, temporary installations, and this website - serving as the nexus for the entire project.

GHOST FOREST, 2021

Ghost Forest, 2021. Madison Square Park, New York, NY. 49 Atlantic Cedar trees. Photography: Maya Lin Studio / Andy Romer, courtesy MSPC. | As part of the installation, Maya Lin and Madison Square Park Conservancy have planned a series of public programs focused on nature-based solutions to climate change, and the Natural Areas Conservancy is planting 1,000 trees and shrubs within the 5 boroughs to offset the emissions caused by the creation of the artwork.

THE SECRET LIFE OF GRASSES, 2018

Storm King Art Center, 2018. Indicators: Artists on Climate Change | This installation includes three ten-foot-tall tubes, each housing a single stalk of prairie grass, from the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas - revealing its entire structure—from root to tip, highlighting the restorative role of perennial and native grass species in regenerative agriculture and ranching practices that could help reduce climate change and store carbon in the soil.

MAP OF MEMORY: HUDSON RIVER TIMELINE, 2018

Hudson River Museum. Photography: Kris Graves, courtesy Pace Gallery. | An ecological history of the Hudson River unfolds over the course of several hours, as historical images and text circulate chronologically through the four-wall installation.

SEVEN EARTH MOUNTAIN, 2015

Pier 94, New York, NY. For 3.1 Phillip Lim 10th anniversary spring collection featuring a sculptural installation made only of soil designed by Maya Lin to benefit the What is Missing? Foundation and the Perfect Earth Project. The soil was repurposed back into New York City community gardens.  Runway Photography: Courtesy 3.1 Philip Lim.

BROWER CENTER, 2014

What Is Missing Installation at the David Brower Center as part of the exhibition Art/Act: Maya Lin.

MTV BILLBOARD, 2010

MTV Billboard. Sponsored by Creative Time, Times Square, New York, 2010

THE LISTENING CONE, 2009

California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco CA. Commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission. Photography: Bruce Damonte | This bronze and reclaimed wood sculpture contains an interior screen that features videos produced by What Is Missing? Each film is overlaid with text linking threatened and endangered species to the habitats and ecosystems that are vital to their survival.

EMPTY ROOM, 2009

The Empty Room temporary installation has been exhibited in museums and galleries across the United States and around the world. It was debuted at the Storm King Art Center and Salon 94 in 2009.

MILESTONES

2024 - Future Ours, ART2030, United Nations Headquarters and bus stops throughout the 5 boroughs of New York City | What Is Missing? featured in Maya Lin episode of PBS Climate Artists series | View in Time interactive touchscreen installation and special video Clear the Air, Coal + Ice, Asia Society Museum - 2023 - What Is Missing? featured in One Life: Maya Lin at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery - 2022 - website relaunch with new mobile site. - 2021 - Ghost Forest Installation in Madison Square Park, New York City | “Solutions” launched on website - 2020 - ‘Nature Based’ video released by Earth Day Network for virtual Earth Day Event | Maya appointed senior fellow by Lunder Institute for American Art & Colby College, incorporating WIM? into curriculum | R&D for new website & Mapping the Future - 2019 - Some That Were, Some that Were Not installation, Collaboration with Tan Lin, Oberlin College | Maya Lin awarded National Geographic Storytellers Fellowship for What Is Missing? website redesign. - 2018 - Prairie Grass Installation, Storm King Art Center, Summer | Hudson River Timeline Installation, Hudson River Museum, Fall. - 2017 - Google Earth Voyager, interactive tour of the planet’s natural history launched on Earth Day | The Empty Room installation at Himalayas Art Museum in Shanghai, China, Earth Day | Blink Video played on the Washington Mall during Maya’s speech at the March for Science | Earth Optimism Summit. Booth & Lecture Washington, D.C., Earth Day | WGBH/PBS Learning Media WIM? Curriculum. - 2016 - Launch of first MIS PRINTSTM 3.1 Phillip Lim collaboration, Earth Day | Relaunch of Whatismissing.net, Earth Day | 75 timelines posted to web, What You Can Do posted, Greenprint introduced, building 2016-2017. - 2015 - Relaunch of updated website, Earth Day |Seven Earth Mountain installation, a collaboration with 3.1 Phillip Lim and Perfect Earth Project | 3.1 Phillip Lim/Perfect Earth Collaboration | Orlando Museum of Art - What is Missing? installation as part of Maya’s exhibit A history of Water. - 2014 - Sound Ring sculpture for Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York | Exhibition at Cornell Museum of Art | Exhibition at Nevada Museum of Art | Exhibition at the David Brower Center - 2013 - Green Schools Alliance Spring conference keynote, Earth Day |Google Geek Street Fair science and art fair | NRDC - Marfa Dialogues symposium. - 2012 - Public launch of Whatismissing.net Conservation in Action at Bloomberg headquarters, Earth Day | Chicago Art Fair, NRDC Booth, Fall. - 2011 - Debut of Global Map of Memory on whatismissing.net, Earth Day - 2010 - Launch of the website, whatismissing.net, Earth Day | Debut of What Is Missing? videos at 44 1/2 on MTV’s HD screen in Times Square, sponsored by Creative Time, month of April | Mountainville Film Center in Telluride, Colorado with a presentation and outdoor installation | Traveling Listening Cone debut at Shantou University in China, eight city tour, Summer | Launch of the Chinese language version of the Whatismissing? website | Showcased at the Clinton Global Initiative annual conference in New York, Fall. - 2009 - Listening Cone debut at California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco to mark one-year anniversary of Academy’s new building. | International debut of the Empty Room at Beijing Center for the Arts, Fall | Domestic debut of the Empty Room at Storm King Art Center and Salon 94 in New York, Fall | Debut of Unchopping a Tree in support of REdd+ at COP15 2009 united Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark.

About the Artist

Known for her large-scale environmental installations, memorials and architectural works, Maya Lin is an American artist, architectural designer and environmentalist.

Board of Trustees

Maya Lin, Founder and President, What Is Missing? Foundation

Edwina von Gal, treasurer, Principal Edwina von Gal + Co., Founder & President Perfect Earth Project

Dr. John Fitzpatrick, Executive Director Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director, New Museum of Contemporary Art

Andrew Revkin, Director of the Initiative on Communication Innovation and Impact, The Earth Institute, Columbia University

In fond memory of our Board member Dr. Thomas Lovejoy -

Whose steadfast commitment to protecting the environment has been an inspiration to all of us -

We cherish his spirit and his incredible insight.

- The What is Missing? Board and Staff

What Is Missing? Team

Casey Carter project director I Liza Pittard Map of Memory coordinator I Dana Karwas media consultant | OddCommon web development | Matthew Cooley web development 2010-2020 I Ariel Zavala data management

Researchers and former coordinators: Maeve Corcoran (2022), Matt Dowdy (2022), Alexandra Jones (2020-2021), Nora Chovanec (2010-2014), Chandelle Heffner (2013-2017), Maia Lynch (2013-2017), Sara Volkman (2008-2010).

Advisors & Contributors & Consultants

California Academy of Sciences | Cornell Lab of Ornithology | The Earth Institute, Columbia University | Google Earth | Lunder Institute, Colby College | National Geographic Society | RadicalMedia | WGBH & PBS Learning Media

Other Advisors and Contributors: ARKive.org, BBC Earth,  Conservation International, Freedom to Roam, IUCN, The Nature Conservancy, NRDC, Oceana, Panthera, Rockefeller Foundation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Van Alen Institute, Wildlife Conservation Society, Woodshole Oceanographic Institute, World Wildlife Fund.

SUPPORT FOR THE PROJECT

Seed Funding: Fairfield Community Foundation / The Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation.

Sustaining Partners: Donald Mullen, Li Ka Shing Foundation, Bloomberg Family Foundation, Bloomberg LP. The National Geographic Society.

Foundation Supporters: Volvo for Life - discretionary Juror Grant, V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Maya Lin.

Flagship Funders: Google, Moore Charitable Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Oak Foundation, Pisces Foundation, JPB Foundation, Goldman Sachs Gives/Ted Wang, Ford Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The American Prairie Foundation, The Room and Board Foundation, Stephen and Amandine Freidheim. 

Keystone Supporters: Linda Brown, Brandywine Trust Company, Anla Cheng and Mark Kingdon, Goldman Sachs Gives/Paul Parker, The Henkel Family, Thomas Kaplan, Lost and Foundation Inc, The Robert and Bethany Millard Charitable Foundation, Nevada Museum of Art, Charles and Jessie Price, Matthew and Ann Wolf, Seed Fund, Living Futures Honorarium, Cornell Honorarium, Smith College, Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.

Pioneer Supporters: Carly Fink, C. Christine Nichols at the Community Foundation of Abilene, The Pittman Family Foundation, The San Francisco Arts Commissions.

In-kind Support: Maya Lin donates her time and that of Maya Lin Studio to the project. Cornell Lab of Ornithology has generously donated sounds and videos, and guidance. Additional in-kind support provided by The National Geographic Society, ARKive, BBC Earth, Kaye Scholer, and Radical Media.