BIOTA was a commissioned art installation for the 516 Arts exhibition entitled Species in Peril along the Rio Grande, September- December 2019. 516 ARTS and partners presented this exhibition and series of regional public programs responding to the global biological crisis described in the new UN Report that officially state that nature’s dangerous decline is “unprecedented,” and species extinction rates are accelerating at an alarming pace. According to a recent New York Times editorial, the report says, “‘Biodiversity’ — a word encompassing all living flora and fauna — ‘is declining faster than at any time in human history,’ estimating that ‘around 1 million species already face extinction, many within decades,’ unless the world takes transformative action to save natural systems.” The artists were invited to create an installation to generate awareness to an endangered species. BIOTA focused on microbial species found in water and soil and their vital role to the health of the planet’s ecosystem. See Gallery.