YoungArts Spotlights Lauren Robie & Hope Eternal Gardens

We are honored to share that YoungArts featured Lauren Robie in their Community Spotlight: December 2024! The article highlights her work as co-founder of Hope Eternal Gardens, where she helps families create living memorials through natural burial and the planting of micro-forests.

What is YoungArts?

Founded in 1981, YoungArts is a national nonprofit that identifies and supports the most accomplished young artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Each year, YoungArts recognizes hundreds of high school students across the United States with awards, mentorship, and lifelong opportunities. Alumni include celebrated artists such as Viola Davis, Terence Blanchard, Amanda Gorman, and Timothée Chalamet.

For Lauren, who was named a 2010 YoungArts Winner in Visual Arts, the experience was a formative step — affirming the role of creativity in her life’s work. That spirit of exploration and vision continues today at Hope Eternal Gardens.

Featured in YoungArts’ December 2024 Spotlight

In the YoungArts blog, Lauren is recognized as a 2010 Visual Arts alumna who “opened a state licensed natural burial cemetery in Southwest Florida, planting forests to celebrate loved ones.” This feature beautifully captures how her creative background and vision have shaped Hope Eternal Gardens into a place of remembrance, renewal, and ecological restoration.

Read the full spotlight here: YoungArts Community Spotlight – December 2024

From Art to Ecology: Lauren’s Journey

For Lauren, the transition from visual studies into ecological design was not a departure but a continuation of her creative practice. The YoungArts feature underscores how her artistic sensibilities shape the mission of Hope Eternal Gardens: a cemetery that is not just about endings, but about renewal — where forests grow, ecosystems heal, and families plant legacies of love.

Looking Ahead

We are deeply grateful to YoungArts for amplifying Lauren’s story and sharing how the seeds of creativity planted years ago can grow into projects that nurture both people and the planet. Being featured alongside artists like Jon Batiste is a reminder of the power of community, creativity, and vision.

At Hope Eternal Gardens, we will continue to honor that mission — creating life out of loss, one forest at a time.