Josef Beuys was a conceptual artist with hundreds of projects about the new urbanism. He introduced the idea of social sculpture, developed incisive drawing methodologies and a religion around producing sculptural multiples, infusing the ideas of "Everyone is an artist" and " Capital = Creativity" into the consciousness of late twentieth century Western culture.

Known for his radical performance pieces (like living for a week with a wild coyote and a pile of Wall Street Journals), Beuys sought to fuse spirituality, ideas about time, and the accessibility of art into everything he produced and 'taught.'

Both Barbara Westermann and Bill Allen planted trees for his 7000 Eichen (7000 Oaks) project in Kassel, Germany, where they planted one tree for their daughter Charlotte.