NotDeadYet

An environmental art installation by Christina Cervantes

A Halloween story of loss, protection, and the possibility of renewal.

NotDeadYet.Earth

Choose Your Action Explore the Story
Illustration: a giant skeleton stands at the base of a tall pine, its arms wrapped around the bare trunk and its skull resting against the bark. The left side of the pine is scorched; the right side is green, with seedlings at its feet.

The giant skeletons are ancient guardians of the land. As you walk past, they come back to life.

Helplesshalf-buried
Protectingstanding guard
Creatingkneeling to plant

Act I

The Warning

“We thought we had more time.”

A giant skeleton is half-buried, reaching up out of the earth among dead branches, stumps, and dry grass. Skeleton animals haunt the ground around it.

  • Hottest years on record.
  • Wicked weather.
  • Flash floods.
  • Furious fires.
  • Mass extinction.
♪ Act I song: “The Seed,” AURORA

2024 was the warmest year in the global temperature record. Source: World Meteorological Organization.

Act II

The Choice

“Some things are worth holding onto.”

A giant skeleton stands and wraps its arms around a living pine, lit from below. At its feet the dead ground gives way to pumpkins, native grasses, and mushrooms. A German Shepherd skeleton dog looks on, urging protection.

♪ Act II song: “In My Body,” Bonnie Medicine

Act III

The Future

“The future isn’t dead yet.”

A giant skeleton kneels beside a small one watering a sapling. Native grasses grow back, and the woodland animals return. Small skeletons get to work: planting trees, tending the water, riding bicycles, harvesting a garden.

  • Protect Habitat
  • Plant Something
  • Grow Community
  • Use Your Voice
♪ Act III song: “Resilient,” Rising Appalachia

Nothing about the ending is decided yet. What happens next depends on what we do.

Choose one thing

Scan to bring it back to life

Choose one thing to bring back to life.

Pick a path. Each one has a few things you can start this week. No sign-up, no account.

Level 1 · Lowell, Chelmsford & the Merrimack Valley

Strengthen your community

Find your people. Help your neighbors. Build resilience right here in Greater Lowell.

Climate resilience is more than cutting emissions. It means knowing your neighbors, having good food nearby, protecting green spaces, and making sure no one is left behind when a storm or heat wave hits.

Five ways to make your neighborhood stronger

  1. Get to know three neighbors and swap emergency contact information.
  2. Prepare for flooding, heat waves, power outages, and severe storms, especially with neighbors who may need help.
  3. Support local food: community gardens, farm stands, and food-sharing programs.
  4. Plant shade trees and native plants to cool your street and feed wildlife.
  5. Join a local organization, or start a project on your block.

Local organizations

These are recommended resources. Listing an organization here does not mean it is a sponsor or partner of the installation.

Level 2

Restore our planet

Take practical climate action, support restoration, and help protect the natural world.

Protecting the ecosystems we still have, restoring damaged land, and cutting fossil-fuel pollution all work together, and each one needs the others.

Shared for learning. Inclusion is not an endorsement, and these organizations have not endorsed this project.

Level 3 · Nonpartisan

Shape our future

Vote for a livable planet. Learn how local, state, and national decisions affect the environment, and vote with that knowledge.

What are the people asking for your vote actually going to do about the future of our planet?

This site does not endorse any party or candidate. Each resource below is labeled so you know who is behind it: official government sources, nonpartisan research, or advocacy groups with a point of view.

A. Get ready to vote

B. Your environmental voting checklist

Ask the same questions of candidates at every level of government.

For every candidate, ask:

  1. What have they actually done, not just promised?
  2. What is their plan for reducing pollution while keeping energy affordable?
  3. How will they protect communities from flooding and extreme heat?
  4. Do they support protecting forests, wetlands, and biodiversity?
  5. How will they pay for their proposals, and who benefits or bears the costs?

C. Find your representatives

D. Check the record

Learn more

Watch & learn

Films about forests, food, fungi, and the future, for every age.

    Ratings are U.S. ratings. Check streaming availability where you watch.

    📖 Prefer books? See the 12-month reading list

    Pass it on

    Share the story. Keep the future alive.

    Take a photo at the installation and send people here.

    NotDeadYet.Earth

    Captions you can use

    Press & media

    Giant Halloween skeletons deliver a message of hope for the planet in Lowell. Not Dead Yet, an environmental art installation by Christina Cervantes, is a 150-foot outdoor Halloween installation that turns climate anxiety into community action. Giant skeletons, two towering pines, and dramatic lighting tell a three-act story, and a QR code connects visitors with local environmental groups, restoration efforts, and resources for informed voting.

    Media contact: Christina Cervantes, info@notdeadyet.earth

    About the project

    About the installation

    Not Dead Yet is an environmental art installation by Christina Cervantes in Lowell, Massachusetts: a Halloween story of loss, protection, and the possibility of renewal. Halloween gives us permission to be theatrical, dark, funny, and hopeful all at once. We use that to turn a spooky walk past into a way into local connection, practical action, and civic participation.

    The skeletons bring people in during October. This site is meant to stay useful all year.

    Acknowledgments

    I’d like to thank the following individuals, who were instrumental in bringing this vision to life:

    • Diana Keohane
    • The Owen Family: Stephanie, Will, and Wesley
    • My supportive family: Ramon, Noelle, and Elizabeth
    • My neighbor, Martha
    • The project’s patron
    • And our beloved feisty cat, Jagger, who crossed the rainbow bridge October 1st, 2026, the day I conceived of this project. Furever in our hearts.

    Contact

    Privacy

    This site has no ads, no tracking, no analytics, and no cookies. It does not ask for your name or email. If you tap “I’ll do this,” your choice is saved only in your own browser so you can find it again. Our web host may keep standard server logs.

    The future isn’t dead yet.

    Choose one thing to bring back to life.

    Choose Your Action

    No one left behind. A living planet. A future we build together.