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In Arnaudville, Louisiana, tucked within the heart of Cajun country in St. Martin Parish, a unique kind of workshop thrives. This is not a place of tools and benches, but of native grasses, sculptural forms, and whispered fairy tales. Atelier de la Nature, French for Nature’s Workshop, is a nature reserve, sculpture garden, and outdoor education center born from a powerful idea that conservation can be inspired through art and direct experience.
Founded in 2017 by artist biologist Dr. Brandon Ballengée, sustainable food educator Aurore Ballengée, and their children Lily and Victor, it represents a family’s commitment to healing old farmland and reconnecting community to the local ecosystem. My visit was a walk through this living, breathing project.
A Walk Into a Collaborative World
Greeted by Brandon, the vision was immediately laid out. We were joined by his wife Aurore, their children, and several of the artists whose work dots the landscape, turning the tour into a communal stroll.
“We’re a nature reserve, a STEM education center and we’re really interested in the way that art and science and nature can be combined together.” – Brandon Ballengée
The property itself tells a story of renewal. The land is a little over 30 acres of former soybean and farm fields actively being restored or “re-natured.” This process is documented scientifically through an annual bioblitz.
“We’ve got almost 400 species now cataloged.” – Brandon Ballengée
The Living Art of the Sculpture Trail
The trail is the heart of the experience, filled with collaborative and often functional artworks. One of the first we encountered was a striking, wrapped form. Brandon explained its innovative nature as a collaboration with artist Crisa Ko, soil scientist Jorge Villa, his son Victor, and All Caps Mushrooms of Lafayette.
“The interior is a steel frame and then actually mycelium from mushrooms. So edible mushrooms. And then the whole thing is wrapped with straw and woodchips. So the whole thing blossoms mushrooms over time.” – Brandon Ballengée
This “bio artwork” embodies their hybrid mission. Elsewhere, a luminous structure by visiting artist Jamie Grimes, made from 3D printed and corrugated plastic, is designed to slowly expand like clouds through the trees.
Whimsy, History, and Chicken Proof Art
A playful element of the trail is the search for hidden fairy doors at the bases of trees, a game that engages visitors of all ages.
“The legend is there are 20 or 21 of them. Nobody’s ever seen them all. And the other story is, when you leave the forest and you come back, they move.” – Brandon Ballengée
The art also engages with history and humor. Artist Carrie Hamburg joined us to discuss her piece, a replica of a famous paleontological hoax.
“This is a replica of the infamous Magdeburg Siberian unicorn, which was an early paleontology effort. Scientists put together bones from cows and whales and even a narwhal horn, and thought it was a type of unicorn.” – Carrie Hamburg
Its practical construction addressed a unique local challenge.
“Did you know chickens eat styrofoam?… Our first sculpture out here of styrofoam, the chickens ate it. So this is our more permanent, chicken proof edition.” – Carrie Hamburg
Conservation as Creative Action
The most powerful works are those that act directly as conservation tools. A native plant garden, for instance, is also a sculptural habitat for local native bees, a collaborative project between artist Anne Boujold and bee scientist Kimberly Hamm.
Further along, an installation of over 120 glass bottles glittered in the sun. The creators, Dominic and Alex from the Louisiana Bayou Society, explained its origin.
“We collect litter out of the waterways. So this is an example of a bunch of bottles that we’ve pulled out of local waterways.” – Dominic
“The bottles stretch back into the 60s.” – Alex
For them, the space is a perfect fit for their mission.
“We just love being part of something that is so concentrated on nature. We are trying to conserve the bayous by picking up all of that litter and the entire purpose of this organization really fits in line with that.” – Dominic
The Root of the Mission
Walking through the emerging Cajun prairie and young forest where over a thousand native trees have been planted, I asked Brandon about the core reason behind this immense effort.
“We live in a really special part of the world. I mean, South Louisiana is just known for the animals and the plants here. It’s part of our culture and our connection to nature,” he said.
“We have a lot of youth to come out that have never gone on a nature walk before. And, you know, even if they’re from, like, rural areas, you’d be amazed how disconnected often people can get nowadays.” – Brandon Ballengée
Planning Your Visit
Atelier de la Nature is a working nature reserve and communal project. Access is primarily through scheduled programs, workshops, and festivals.
| Detail | Information |
| What It Is | A 30 acre nature reserve, sculpture garden, and outdoor education center. |
| Founded | 2017 by the Ballengée family. |
| Location | Arnaudville, in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana (Cajun Country). |
| Mission | To inspire stewardship through programs that combine art, science, and nature based education. |
| Key Offerings | Guided nature walks, eco workshops, art and science programming, sustainable cooking workshops, habitat restoration days, and seasonal festivals such as the Halloween Art and Nature Festival, Prairie Planting Day, and Fête de la Nature or Earth Day Festival. |
| Restoration Work | Active re establishment of Cajun prairie, a native forest, and wetland habitats on former farmland. |
| How to Visit | The Atelier is a communal program based space. For the most current information on upcoming public events, workshops, and how to participate, connect via the organization’s official social media channels or website. |
The Workshop Where Nature Itself is the Masterpiece
Atelier de la Nature is more than a destination; it is an ongoing conversation between creativity and ecology. It demonstrates that stewardship is not a chore but a creative, collaborative, and even playful act. From fairy hunts to fungal sculptures and from bottle installations to native bee gardens, every element is designed to inspire a simple and profound realization that protecting our natural world begins with falling in love with it.
Through the Ballengée family’s vision, which is a hybrid of art, science, and deep care, a former soybean field has become a living workshop where every visitor is invited to learn, create, and contribute. It is, truly, a quirky, profound, and only in Louisiana experience.
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