No. The installation was on view October 23 to November 1, 2026, and has closed. The story, the songs, and the ways to take action are all still on this site.

At 59 Geana Ln in Lowell, Massachusetts, across a 130-foot residential landscape near the Merrimack River.

Choose one thing to bring back to life. Pick a path in Choose Your Action and start with one step this week. No sign-up, no account.

Yes. Not Dead Yet is a Halloween story for all ages. Watch & learn has film picks for families and older kids, and the Read page has books from picture books to high school.

Not Dead Yet

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

Thank you for visiting

The skeletons are resting

Not Dead Yet was on view at 59 Geana Ln in Lowell from October 23 to November 1, 2026. Thank you to everyone who came by.

Missed it? Here’s the installation after dark. Watch on Instagram ↗

The installation has closed, but the story keeps going. Here’s what to do next.

Watch

How to Live on Earth

Our featured film, free on YouTube. A 96-minute documentary about people building a good future by working with nature.

Watch the film ↓

Read
Book club

Join the book club

One climate book a month for a year, starting with Braiding Sweetgrass in November. Follow us on Facebook for the event and details.

See the reading list Facebook ↗

Video

Meet the artist

Christina Cervantes introduces Not Dead Yet and the story behind it.

Video: LMTLSS Media · Watch on YouTube ↗

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.

Act I of the installation: a giant skeleton half-buried among dead branches at the corner of the lot. — Photo: LMTLSS Media

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.

If this feels heavy

Grief about the planet is real, and you don’t have to carry it alone. Here are two places to talk it through with other people.

Peer support

Good Grief Network

Small peer-led groups that work through a 10-step program for climate anxiety and grief, one step a week. There’s also a program for teens.

Open ↗

Unitarian Universalist

UU Ministry for Earth

Hosts a weekly drop-in Climate Grief Support Group on Zoom, along with Earth-centered gatherings and resources rooted in Unitarian Universalist values.

Open ↗

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 of the installation: a giant skeleton wraps its arms around the trunk of a tall pine. — Photo: LMTLSS Media

♪ 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, picking up trash, riding bicycles, harvesting a garden. On a bench, a mother skeleton holds her little one.

Act III of the installation: a skeleton watering a young plant. — Photo: LMTLSS Media

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

Get to know three neighbors and swap emergency contact information.
Prepare for flooding, heat waves, power outages, and severe storms, especially with neighbors who may need help.
Support local food: community gardens, farm stands, and food-sharing programs.
Plant shade trees and native plants to cool your street and feed wildlife.
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.

Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust

Volunteer
Attend
Donate

Land conservation, urban forestry, wildlife protection, and environmental education in Lowell, including the Concord River Greenway.

Try this: Volunteer for their weekly Stewardship Crew, or become a land steward.

Visit website ↗

Mill City Grows

Volunteer
Learn
Donate

Community gardens, fresh-food access, food justice, and sustainable urban agriculture in Lowell.

Try this: Join a community garden, volunteer, or support local food access.

Visit website ↗

Merrimack Valley Food Bank

Donate

Collects food and delivers it to pantries, shelters, and schools across the Merrimack Valley, and rescues food that would otherwise go to waste.

Try this: Make a donation to help feed neighbors across the Merrimack Valley.

Visit website ↗

Farmer Dave’s

Shop local
Attend

A Dracut family farm growing vegetables and fruit, with a CSA, farm stands in Dracut and Tewksbury, stands at local farmers markets including Lowell’s, and seasonal pick-your-own.

Try this: Sign up for a CSA share, or go pick your own pumpkins, apples, or berries in season.

Visit website ↗

Shaw Farm Dairy

Shop local
Attend

A family dairy farm in Dracut since 1908, bottling its own milk, much of it in reusable glass bottles, and making ice cream from its own cows’ milk.

Try this: Get milk delivered in returnable glass bottles, or stop by the farm for a scoop of ice cream.

Visit website ↗

Lowell Litter Krewe

Volunteer
Attend

Volunteer-run community cleanups, neighborhood improvements, rewilding, and winter help for neighbors.

Try this: Join a cleanup or adopt a street.

Visit website ↗

Merrimack River Watershed Council

Learn
Volunteer
Advocate

Works to protect and restore the Merrimack River and the land and water that drain into it.

Try this: Read up on the river’s health and sign up to hear about volunteer opportunities.

Visit website ↗

Mass Audubon

Attend
Volunteer
Learn

Habitat protection, family nature programs, and conservation volunteering across Massachusetts.

Try this: Take the family to a nature program at a wildlife sanctuary.

Visit website ↗

Native Plant Trust

Learn
Attend
Volunteer

Native plant education and ecological gardening, home of Garden in the Woods and the Go Botany identification tool.

Try this: Use Go Botany to identify a plant in your neighborhood.

Visit website ↗

Grow Native Massachusetts

Learn
Attend

Practical native landscaping and biodiversity, with free talks, guides, and plant lists.

Try this: Attend one of their free public talks on native plants.

Visit website ↗

Community Teamwork

Volunteer
Donate
Learn

Housing stability, economic resilience, and support for vulnerable neighbors across the Merrimack Valley.

Try this: Share their services with a neighbor who needs help, or ask how to volunteer.

Visit website ↗

UMass Lowell Office of Sustainability

Learn
Attend

Connects the university’s climate and sustainability work with the wider community.

Try this: See what the university is doing on climate and look for public events.

Visit website ↗

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.

Restore nature

Homegrown National Park

Cofounded by Doug Tallamy and Michelle Alfandari, it asks everyone to replace part of their lawn with native plants, turning yards and gardens into one nationwide park for wildlife.

Action: Plant natives, then add your yard to the Homegrown National Park map.

Open ↗

Terraformation

Helps restoration teams around the world grow native forests, with a focus on native biodiversity, seed collection, and long-term forest stewardship.

Action: Learn about forest restoration projects and ways to support them.

Disclosure: Christina Cervantes, the artist behind Not Dead Yet, is a former Terraformation employee.

Open ↗

Rainforest Trust

Partners with local organizations to create protected areas for threatened tropical forests and species.

Action: Support protection of threatened tropical habitats.

Open ↗

The Nature Conservancy

A global conservation organization working to protect land and water in the U.S. and around the world.

Action: Explore land, freshwater, and marine conservation.

Open ↗

One Earth

Supports research and projects that address climate and nature together, organized around the world’s bioregions.

Action: Learn about climate solutions and restoration where you live.

Open ↗

EarthEcho International

Founded in 2000 by siblings Philippe and Alexandra Cousteau, it helps young people take action to protect and restore the ocean and the world’s water.

Action: Order a Water Challenge kit and test the water quality of a local river or pond.

Open ↗

Reduce harm

Project Drawdown

Assesses which climate solutions work best and helps people and organizations put them into action.

Action: Understand evidence-based climate solutions.

Open ↗

Rewiring America

Helps households and communities switch to efficient electric heating, cooking, and transportation.

Action: Explore household electrification and energy upgrades.

Open ↗

350.org

An international climate movement working to keep fossil fuels in the ground and build clean, community-led renewable energy.

Action: Sign up for updates and join one of their campaigns.

Open ↗

Build collective momentum

We Don’t Have Time

A climate-focused media and action platform for following developments and joining public discussion.

Action: Follow climate developments and engage with campaigns.

Open ↗

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

A nonpartisan, volunteer-led group that trains people to talk with their elected officials about climate policy.

Action: Take part in organized climate-policy advocacy.

Open ↗

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. Stay ready for the next election

Local elections in Massachusetts run on their own schedule, so check your city or town clerk’s website for upcoming dates.

Official · Massachusetts

VoteInMA.com

Register, check your status, and update your address if you’ve moved. Before each election, request a mail ballot and find your polling place here.

Open ↗

Nonpartisan guide

VOTE411

From the League of Women Voters Education Fund. Before each election, enter your address to compare candidates and ballot questions.

Open ↗

Official · Federal

USA.gov: Voting and elections

Voting information for visitors from outside Massachusetts.

Open ↗

B. Your environmental voting checklist

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

Lowell & Chelmsford

Tree canopy, flood protection, stormwater, land conservation, zoning, walking and biking routes, emergency preparedness

Massachusetts

Clean electricity, energy affordability, public transit, wetlands protection, climate resilience funding, building efficiency

U.S. Congress

Climate legislation, energy policy, federal conservation funding, environmental enforcement, clean-energy research

Federal executive branch

Environmental agency leadership, regulatory priorities, international climate agreements, federal land management

For every candidate, ask:

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

C. Find your representatives

Official · State

Find your Massachusetts legislators

Enter your address to find your state representative and state senator.

Open ↗

Official · Federal

Find your member of Congress

Find your U.S. representative and senators, then see the bills they sponsored and voted on.

Open ↗

D. Check the record

Nonpartisan research

Open States

Free tools to look up your state legislators, see how they vote, and follow environmental bills between elections. Now run by Plural Policy.

Open ↗

Advocacy endorsements

ELM Action Fund

The Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund endorses state candidates each election, from an environmental advocacy point of view. It sends questionnaires to candidates of every party.

Open ↗

Nonpartisan turnout

Environmental Voter Project

Finds people who care deeply about the environment but rarely vote, and helps them vote in every election. It does not endorse candidates or take policy positions.

Open ↗

Official record

Congress.gov

The Library of Congress record of federal bills and legislative activity.

Open ↗

Nonpartisan research

OpenSecrets

Who funds campaigns, at the federal and state level. It merged with FollowTheMoney.org in 2021.

Open ↗

Advocacy rating

League of Conservation Voters Scorecard

Rates members of Congress on votes LCV considers important for the environment.

Open ↗

Learn more

Watch & learn

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

Featured film

How to Live on Earth (2026)

Documentary · 96 min · free on YouTube

Presented by Benedict Cumberbatch and directed by Fredi Devas. Scientists, farmers, communities, and innovators show how people can build a good future by working with nature.

Watch on YouTube ↗ · About the film ↗

2040 (2019)

Documentary · 92 min

A father imagines the world in 2040 if the climate solutions we already have were widely used.

Where to watch ↗
The Biggest Little Farm (2018)

Documentary · 91 min

A couple turns worn-out farmland into a thriving, diverse ecosystem. Beautiful and easy to love.

Where to watch ↗
Common Ground (2023)

Documentary

Industrial agriculture, soil health, and farmers using regenerative practices.

Some of its claims about regenerative farming are debated, which makes for a good discussion.

Where to watch ↗
Kiss the Ground (2020)

Documentary

Soil regeneration, food systems, and storing carbon through farming.

Its claims about soil carbon are ambitious. Cutting emissions still matters.

Where to watch ↗
The Territory (2022)

Documentary

An Indigenous Uru-eu-wau-wau community defends its Amazon territory against deforestation. Intense and sometimes disturbing.

Where to watch ↗
Wild Life (2023)

Documentary

Conservationists Kristine and Doug Tompkins and the protected landscapes they helped create in Chile and Argentina.

Where to watch ↗
Fantastic Fungi (2019)

Documentary · 81 min

Stunning time-lapse of mushrooms and underground fungal networks. A magical Halloween choice.

Some of its medicinal claims deserve scrutiny.

Where to watch ↗
The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2021)

Documentary

A portrait of the activist and her work for seed sovereignty and ecological agriculture.

Where to watch ↗
Views From a Woodlot (2025)

Short film · 18 min

A Massachusetts forester and his low-impact way of caring for woodland.

Screenings and updates ↗
The Grab (2024)

Documentary

An investigation into how governments and investors compete to control food and water.

Where to watch ↗
Don’t Look Up (2021)

R · 138 min

Dark satire: scientists try to warn humanity while media and politics look away. A pointed companion to “We thought we had more time.”

Where to watch ↗

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

📖 Prefer books? See the reading lists for adults, kids and teens

Good to know

Questions

Can I still see it?: No. The installation was on view October 23 to November 1, 2026, and has closed. The story, the songs, and the ways to take action are all still on this site.
Where was it?: At 59 Geana Ln in Lowell, Massachusetts, across a 130-foot residential landscape near the Merrimack River.
What can I do now?: Choose one thing to bring back to life. Pick a path in Choose Your Action and start with one step this week. No sign-up, no account.
Is it OK for kids?: Yes. Not Dead Yet is a Halloween story for all ages. Watch & learn has film picks for families and older kids, and the Read page has books from picture books to high school.

About the project

About the installation

Christina Cervantes, the artist behind Not Dead Yet, sits on a fallen birch log in a sunlit forest, wearing a green patchwork kimono. — Christina Cervantes, artist and creator
Photo: Jenn Plante Photography

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 into a way toward local connection, practical action, and civic participation.

The skeletons bring people in during October, but 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

Email info@notdeadyet.earth

Privacy

This site has no ads, no cookies, and no tracking. It does not ask for your name or email. We count how many times each page is visited each day, so we know the site is useful. That count is just a number on our own site: it includes nothing about you and is not shared with anyone. 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. Videos come from YouTube or Instagram only if you tap play; that company’s privacy policy applies from then on.

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.

The skeletons are resting

How to Live on Earth

Join the book club

Meet the artist

The Warning

If this feels heavy

Good Grief Network

UU Ministry for Earth

The Choice

The Future

Choose one thing to bring back to life.

Plant Something Native

Protect & Restore

Grow Community

Cut Pollution

Use Your Voice

Strengthen your community

Five ways to make your neighborhood stronger

Local organizations

Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust

Mill City Grows

Merrimack Valley Food Bank

Farmer Dave’s

Shaw Farm Dairy

Lowell Litter Krewe

Merrimack River Watershed Council

Mass Audubon

Native Plant Trust

Grow Native Massachusetts

Community Teamwork

UMass Lowell Office of Sustainability

Restore our planet

Restore nature

Homegrown National Park

Terraformation

Rainforest Trust

The Nature Conservancy

One Earth

EarthEcho International

Reduce harm

Project Drawdown

Rewiring America

350.org

Build collective momentum

We Don’t Have Time

Citizens’ Climate Lobby

Shape our future

A. Stay ready for the next election

VoteInMA.com

VOTE411

USA.gov: Voting and elections

B. Your environmental voting checklist

Lowell & Chelmsford

Massachusetts

U.S. Congress

Federal executive branch

For every candidate, ask:

C. Find your representatives

Find your Massachusetts legislators

Find your member of Congress

D. Check the record

Open States

ELM Action Fund

Environmental Voter Project

Congress.gov

OpenSecrets

League of Conservation Voters Scorecard

Watch & learn

How to Live on Earth (2026)

2040 (2019)

The Biggest Little Farm (2018)

Common Ground (2023)

Kiss the Ground (2020)

The Territory (2022)

Wild Life (2023)

Fantastic Fungi (2019)

The Seeds of Vandana Shiva (2021)

Views From a Woodlot (2025)

The Grab (2024)

Don’t Look Up (2021)