This autumn, New Village Press will publish ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia, a first-person, photo-illustrated account by artist and writer Barbara Benish. The book tells the remarkable story of the creation of ArtMill, an international eco-art centre and NGO founded in 2004 in rural Bohemia, and one of the partner structures of our European programme Transformative Territories.
Rooted in the Czech countryside, ArtMill has become a unique site where art, ecology and community converge. Emerging from the shadows of totalitarian Czechoslovakia, Barbara Benish narrates how creativity, collective imagination, and a deep connection to the land can contribute to building civil society from the ground up. The book traces her journey from California to Prague in the wake of the Velvet Revolution, and her decision to transform a former flour mill into a space of regeneration, for both the environment and the human spirit.
Through over two decades of projects, ArtMill has pioneered what Barbara Benish calls “sustainable creativity”: a practice that moves beyond recycling or slowing down consumption, towards regeneration, care, and collective renewal. Its activities span environmental education, eco-art, and social justice, influencing debates locally and internationally. As Barbara Benish reflects, “ArtMill is a place that gave us permission to create things and regenerate the land. All our activities there have informed other activities out in the world around ideas of environmental education, social justice, healing and eco-art practices.”
The book situates ArtMill within a wider history—beginning in the “dark days” of late Communist Czechoslovakia, through the exuberance of democratic transition, and into the contested politics of today. It demonstrates how artists and cultural practitioners can nurture resilience, strengthen communities, and address ecological challenges through creativity and imagination.
With contributions of praise from international voices, ranging from curators and museum directors to former UNESCO leaders and scholars such as T. J. Demos, ArtMill is both memoir and manifesto. It offers a model of collective regeneration in times of planetary crisis, showing how art can be a driving force for social and environmental transformation.
As one of the structures involved in Transformative Territories, ArtMill embodies the programme’s vision: supporting artistic practices that engage deeply with territories, communities, and ecological futures. Barbara Benish’s book ensures that this pioneering journey is not only documented but shared as inspiration for all who believe that creativity is essential to the survival of democratic and ecological life.
ArtMill: A Story of Sustainable Creativity in Bohemia will be released on 7 October 2025 by New Village Press (distributed by NYU Press).
About the Author
Barbara Benish is a California-born artist and writer whose work bridges art, ecology, and social justice. After moving to Prague in 1992 as a Fulbright scholar, she founded ArtMill in 2004, transforming a former flour mill in rural Bohemia into an international eco-art centre. Her practice has taken her from grassroots community projects to serving as an Advisor for the United Nations Environment Programme (2010–2015), and as a Fellow at the Social Practice Arts Research Center, University of California, Santa Cruz. Barabar Benish’s mixed-media works have been exhibited worldwide, including at MoMA PS1 in New York, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and the National Gallery in Prague.
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