Our Affiliated Artists work with Alliance partners to share climate change adaptation expertise, tools, and lessons learned. Climate art is showcased at "Art of Change" shows and other Alliance events, including summits and workshops.
VISUAL ARTS
Skylaar Amann:
Skylaar Amann was born in Rochester, NY, and grew up along Oregon’s rugged Pacific coastline. Her work is inspired by the sea, the natural world, and a sense of scientific wonder. Skylaar is a member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, Women Who Draw, and the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Her clients include Surfrider Portland, 826 Seattle, Adventure Children’s Museum, and Sitka Sound Science Center. When not making art, Skylaar is writing, promoting ocean conservation, or playing with her cat.
Diane Burko:
Diane Burko’s art focuses on monumental geological phenomena, which merges a vision that is panoramic, intimate and provocative. Focused on climate change at the intersection of art and science, her images of melting glaciers reflect research and visual data from scientists. Burko’s paintings and photography, over 100 exhibits thus far, bear witness to changes in the Polar regions, translating data including recessional lines and Landsat images into compelling imagery. These Polar images are in response to her travels around Svalbard, Greenland’s Jakobshavn, Iceland, glaciers in South Island, New Zealand and the Antarctica Peninsula.
Kira Carrillo Corser:
Kira was the first artist to work with the Climate Kids program in 2015 when she created beautiful paintings on silk that communicated students' commitment to protecting the ocean. Kira also participated and shared her work at Art@CAF (California Adaptation Forum) in 2014. Kira is currently involved in Peace & Justice projects and a project linking the arts and businesses through video. Specifically, videos on ocean and planet changes due to climate change, plastic pollution and overfishing. During her work leading the Sea Changes Project, Kira brought together 7 climate scientists and 7 artists to co-create work related to climate impacts on the ocean with support from the San Diego Visual Arts Network.
Audrey Carver:
I have always been fascinated by the way people interact with their environments. Coming from the wonderfully strange town of Idyllwild, California, my childhood environment was atypical: I grew up surrounded by trees and artists, barefoot and constantly inspired by the world around me. I have been exploring that relationship ever since: working with environmental organizations to communicate their research to the public, painting murals to enhance urban environments, and making art to help me understand the moves that I have made to Ecuador and now to Boston. Currently, I am studying at Tufts University, and hoping to continue examining the way that people interact with their environment, and how art can be used to communicate that.
Arpita Choudhury:
Arpita illustrates and writes about science news and issues through her blog, "The Science of Illustration." Her blog posts and artwork gravitate towards conservation, climate change, genetics, evolution, and environmental science. She studied marine science at the University of Miami and environmental science at the University of Rhode Island. In a previous life, she was a fisheries geneticist and invertebrate molecular biologist. Most recently she dwelled in the world of wildlife policy with a focus on climate change and wildlife disease. Currently she is interested in using the visual arts as a tool for educating the general public about science.
NATALIE DUPILLE:
Natalie Dupille is a cartoonist, illustrator, and teaching artist who splits her time between Seattle and world traveling. Dupille's art focuses on documenting travel, relationships, and the natural world. Her work has appeared in many publications and anthologies including The Stranger, The Seattle Weekly, Taproot Magazine, and Chainmail Bikini. Some of her self-published mini-comics include Huckleberry Pie, Total Lunarcy, and October Diary. She is currently an artist-in-residence at Seattle's Pacific Science Center.
Lucas Halopoff:
Reefocus started in Southern California as an excuse to follow what inspires us, seize the moment and capture it as well. We are primarily interested in documenting the striking landscapes of our surroundings and share these images to bring awareness of nature's beauty. Lucas Halopoff’s interest in the great outdoors was sparked at an early age. This love for camping and hiking has pushed him to become interested in preserving nature and conserving our natural resources. Lucas believes that his photography can be used to help spread these ideas to the public and get more people interested in saving our precious lands.
NIGELLA HILLGARTH:
Nigella Hillgarth was born in Ireland and received her Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Oxford University in the UK, as well as her Ph.D in Evolutionary Biology. Nigella is an environmental advocate and photographer concerned with the impacts of climate change on ocean and coastal ecosystems. Her work on Greenland ice and sea level rise has been shown on the East coast and San Diego. Nigella’s recent work has focused on coastal birds and climate change. She lives in San Diego, and is also a visiting scientist at the University of Washington, as well as a founding member of Ocean Collectiv – solutions for a healthy ocean. Before that, Nigella was President & CEO of the New England Aquarium in Boston where she raised the profile of the Aquarium’s global conservation and research work by founding the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in June 2016, as well as developing a vision for the future of the Aquarium and surrounding Boston waterfront. Earlier Nigella was Executive Director of the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego and, directed the first major climate change exhibit on the West Coast.
WILL HOLDER:
28 year old San Diego based ocean photographer. My main goal as a photographer is to try to bring into focus how beautiful the seemingly simple things in life are, especially in regards to life revolving around the sea. California especially, from Baja to Big Sur, constantly is giving us incredible moments and feels. I consider myself extremely lucky to have grown up here in Southern San Diego, and even luckier to have found photography as somewhat of a daily escape from reality.
Tomaso Marcolla:
Tomaso Marcolla is an Italian artist that graduated from the Art Institute of Trento and started working as a graphic designer in 1985. He is Member of AIAP (Italian association planning for visual communication) and of the BEDA (Bureau of European Designers associations). Tomaso utilizes digital art and posters to highlight themes that he values in his daily life such as solidarity, nonviolence, the defense of the environment. Tomaso’s work is a contribution to the Climate Science Alliance’s RISE exhibition - celebrating what it means to be resilient in the face of climate change.
Hoi-Fei Mok:
Dr. Hoi-Fei Mok (they/them) is a queer non-binary Asian American artist-activist born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area / occupied Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone lands. Fei works at the intersection of climate resilience, environmental and social justice, and community art. They graduated from Wellesley College, MA with top honors and have worked extensively as a researcher on climate change, population genetics, and ecological modeling in Costa Rica, Tibet, and Australia. Their PhD research focused on wastewater reuse for agricultural irrigation in Shepparton, Australia and included public health risk modeling, agricultural fieldwork, and economic feasibility analysis. Currently they work on climate action planning, community resilience, and climate justice with City of San Leandro in the Bay Area. They also organize with Asians4BlackLives, APIENC (API Equality Northern California), Wellesley Underground, and Resource Generation.
Kris HODSON Moore:
My series, Fly Away, Breath. is not intended as documentary. It began as a spoof on the suffocation hazards I’d been warned about since childhood, a commentary on depression, and a preference for anonymity, but I live near the ocean where plastic waste overwhelms some of our beaches, so over time this series has become a statement about the biohazards of plastic that affect not only sea creatures but humans as well.
Jack kelly:
I was born and raised in London, England and grew up with a deep passion for both the ocean and art. I had my first encounter with SCUBA diving at the age of 10 and haven’t stopped diving since. I graduated in 2014 with a degree in BSc Marine Biology from Plymouth University and shortly after that was accepted onto a marine science internship program with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA as well as with San Diego Coastkeeper. I’m now married and living in the Florida Keys, working in marine science and continuing to pursue my passion of ocean artwork.
Adi Khen:
Adi Khen is a PhD student in Marine Biology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD) studying coral reef ecology. In her spare time, Adi is also a digital illustrator of marine life. She is passionate about using art as a tool to communicate science; she believes that art has a way of reaching people and getting a message across more than just the science itself would. As biologist E.O. Wilson has said, “Science explains feeling, while Art transmits it.” Adi is a dedicated researcher and science communicator and so far, she has contributed artwork to various scientific publications. She is excited to have another platform to share her art with the public through her partnership with Climate Science Alliance.
GArFIELD KWAN:
Garfield Kwan is both a fish physiologist and a scientific communicator via Squidtoons (www.squidtoons.com). Working closely with Dana Song, Garfield translates current research into visually appealing yet scientifically accurate comics, illustrations, and infographics. Squidtoons has since been featured in the 12th edition of the textbook "Essentials of Oceanography", published by Andrews McMeel Publishing in the book "Squidtoons: Exploring Ocean Science with Comics", and currently featured as an aquarium exhibit at the Seymour Marine Science Center in Santa Cruz, California. Squidtoons is a great non-traditional medium for disseminating your research paper, and our work has been funded by the NSF and EPA grants.
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KRISTIN OSGOOD LAMELAS:
Kristin Osgood Lamelas is a Philadelphia born artist, currently living in New Jersey. She donated a kidney to her father in 2011. Since then, her mixed-media paintings reference aerial views of specific landscapes and images of cells from her own body.
"The sense of looking simultaneously at both a microcosm and a macrocosm is created, encouraging the viewer to be enveloped and providing them the opportunity to investigate a natural topographer created within the materials. Climate change and the effect it has on our bodies and the landscape, specifically our oceans, is a concept I am currently exploring in my practice. Ultimately, these works celebrate the beauty and preciousness of life."
ORIANA POINDEXTER:
Oriana Poindexter is an artist and scientist from Laguna Beach, CA. She attended Princeton University, where she studied Photography, Evolutionary Biology, and Ecology, receiving a B.A. in Art History & Visual Art Practice in 2011. After a stint in art and graphic design in Los Angeles, Oriana learned about the marine collections at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), and moved south to investigate the oceans in greater depth. She earned an M.A.S. in Marine Biodiversity & Conservation from SIO in 2015 with a focus on the study of fisheries economics, fascinated by the way humans attempt to turn the ocean inside out to classify, categorize, and value its inhabitants. During that time, Oriana embarked on a long-term photographic study of the SIO collections. Today, Oriana works as a fisheries scientist based at the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, and spends her free time surfing and free diving. Her photographic practice includes both traditional film and digital processes, above and below the ocean’s surface. She exhibits her photography regularly, and is working on a book of specimen portraits and their stories.
MICHAEL READY:
Michael Ready is a photographer specializing in natural history, science, and conservation subjects. From vanishing amphibians to bioluminescent squid, Michael's collection of images seeks to reveal the diversity of life and particularly its smaller and lesser-known forms. While possessing a background rooted in natural history, his vision is divergent from typified nature photography. With an eye for rich colors, abstract patterns, and compositional mystery, the resulting images bring a sense of wonder and connection to the wild -- and to the idea that nothing is outside of nature. Michael is an Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, an organization harnessing the power of awe-inspiring imagery to further environmental and cultural conservation.
ANDREW ROSALES:
I have always been drawn to the outdoors. It is a special place where I am rejuvenated and inspired. I love sharing this passion with students through science education programs and guiding them to make their own meaningful connections to nature. With growing urbanization, loss of habitat, and stressors of our changing climate, bringing awareness of the amazing plant and animal communities that surround us is vitally important. Art connects people and places and can inspire the next generation of environmental stewards into action.
MARGO WALLACE:
Art has always been both an inspiring and challenging way of life for me. I’ve always loved creating, whether it’s with paint, pen, clay or wire, the creativity of one’s mind is boundless. It wasn’t until I started working with City High School, that I started to see how incredibly powerful and effective public art can be for students and community members. Mural projects offer students the chance to organize, plan, and execute a collaborated vision, while giving them the chance to make meaningful and lasting relationships with their communities and the members within. With this line of thinking, I’ve been truly inspired by the innovative ways in which science has become more approachable to a larger audience. I believe public art is a crucial component to communicating critical information about the world we live in, to all sorts of people en masse.
JEREE WALLER:
Jeree Waller, a fine arts photographer and mixed-media artist, is the CEO of Wild Destinations Photography and Waller Productions. She has 40 years of experience in Social Work for adults, seniors, and youth, and is one of the founders of FREED Center for Independent Living and One Source Empowering Caregivers. Jeree and Rick Waller co-founded HeartWork Accessible Nature Photography LearnShops for people of all ages, of all disabilities, Vets and First Responders with PTSD, and families. Jeree is a proud mother and grandmother.
RICK WALLER:
Rick Waller is the Founder and President of Wild Destinations Photography. He has been a Fine Art, Product, and Nature Photographer for 40 years, and educates adults and youth on photography and computer apps. Rick and Jeree Waller co-founded HeartWork Accessible Nature Photography LearnShops for people of all ages, of all disabilities, Vets and First Responders with PTSD, and families. Rick is also the co-founder of Nevada County Wheelchair Sports Association. Rick is a proud father and grandfather.
Laura Walsh:
Laura's viewfinder is pretty much always pointed west. The Southcoast diver and surfer spends much of her time in the water near her home at Windansea Beach and makes frequent trips around San Diego County and to Baja to shoot color film photography. Laura uses film to capture the sublimity of local breaks as an homage to their pre-crowd condition, but also nods to the awe they still inspire in beachgoers today. Laura studied water quality and marine conservation at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and currently works with local governments in San Diego on climate change planning and coastal resilience.
PERFORMANCE
Biomimicry:
County of San Diego Park Rangers Michelle Levesque, Brian Ek, and Alex Wild discovered their shared passion for environmental music while performing at San Elijo Lagoon Ecological Reserve. Michelle has been writing and singing climate and nature-themed songs since 2007. However, the performances really took off in 2016 when Brian and Alex contributed their guitar and percussion skills and “Biomimicry” was formed. Biomimicry’s songs interpret biological and climate related concepts to the melodies of popular music, and support San Diego County Department of Parks and Recreation interpretive programs. Michelle and Brian performed for the National Association for Interpretation (NAI) 2016 Regional Workshop and Michelle is an NAI Certified Interpretive Trainer. Alex is an NAI Certified Interpretive Guide and is working toward his trainer certification.
LEAH KEANE:
Leah Keane is a folk singer/songwriter from San Diego, California. Her unique vibrato and soulful delivery lends her an originality and versatility beyond her genre. Playing the guitar, piano, and ukulele Leah seeks to create music that is both captivating and relatable. In January of 2019, Leah released her first EP “Selfie Sweetie” to all digital platforms. Written and performed by Leah, Selfie Sweetie includes five thought-provoking songs that deal with growth, heartbreak, humility, responsibility and the pressures of growing up in this modern world.
Claudia Lyra:
After graduating in Brazil with a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and through understanding and experiencing the importance of movement and music in my life, I realized that a good education can be healing or prevent emotional weaknesses. A good education involves activities in which students explore their identities, creativity, social skills and are engaged in the subjects by the teachers who are able to bring authentic material to classrooms or educational events. With that in mind, after years of devotion to ballet, gymnastics, Capoeira and percussion, I began practicing and studying Traditional Rhythms, dances and stories from Brazil. With this experience, I acknowledge the teachings of traditions and wise humans dedicated to life with integrity, keeping their identity and their culture alive through artistic expressions. Through this endless learning process, I have been able to use my voice and all the blessings within movement and music skills to pass on these traditions and people's stories in order to inspire others, no matter the age.
Ashley Marie Mazanec:
Ashley Mazanec is an eco musician, environmental policy professional, and Founding Director of EcoArts Foundation. She is committed to her mission: cultivating a world that sustains the environment in balance with human activities. The EcoArts podcast named after her 2016 album Let's Talk About the Weather showcases ecological topics through the eyes of artists. She holds her masters degree in International Environmental Policy from the UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy and a B.A. in Socio-Cultural Anthropology from Portland State. Her music can be heard on LA Talk Radio and in corporate stores such as T.J. Maxx, Hershey's and Abercrombie Kids, and on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and Bandcamp.
MULTIMEDIA
Milena Gavala:
Milena is a visual science communicator. A scientist by training but a creative by nature, Milena works with science organizations to translate complex & technical concepts into accessible and memorable visuals that create "aha" moments for non-scientific audiences. She also teaches workshops that help scientists organize, summarize, and visualize their own work in elegant and fun (but still scientifically accurate!) graphics.
Joan Green:
Through her love of nature and her enthusiasm for reuse, Joan uses her art to explore the environmental edge that we are balancing on. She is deeply concerned with the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans, and through her art and teachings, is empowering children and their families to make more sustainable choices to respect themselves and our planet. Joan will be working in classrooms, at binational events, in green labs, and at Cabrillo National Monument this year in collaboration with the Climate Science Alliance's Climate Kids program.
Cynthia Matzke:
Cynthia Matzke holds a Master of Advanced Studies from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation. She possesses a decade-long cohesive background in journalism, producing packages and assets for NBC Universal, Akaku television, and on independent documentaries. Her goal is to foster conservation efforts by pairing ocean science research with stunning imagery that engages audiences.
Liia Suprunenko:
Liia is a 17 year old Ukrainian artist currently living in California. For the past couple of years she has been working in digital art, sculpture, drawing, and architectural design. Her main focus has always been raising awareness about climate change and problems of the modern world. “Art ,compared to other fields, speaks to people on the deeper level. It sticks with you. As a part of a new generation I want to be vocal, and I don't want to wait for somebody to solve issues that I would have to live with in the future,” Liia states. Liia’s work is a contribution to the Climate Science Alliance’s RISE exhibition - celebrating what it means to be resilient in the face of climate change.
Ruth Wallen:
Ruth is a multi-media artist and writer whose work is dedicated to encouraging dialogue about ecological issues and social justice. After initial training and work experience in environmental science, she turned to art to address the values that inform environmental policy. She has been active in the development of the field of ecological art by creating many websites and outdoor interactive installations. Additionally, she has participated in innumerable solo and group exhibitions. Ruth has been on the faculty of the MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts Program at Goddard College and a lecturer at University of California, San Diego for many years, and was a Fulbright Lecturer at the Autonomous University of Baja California, Tijuana.
ST. LOUIS ARTISTS
As part of a commitment to building a community of practice around climate adaptation, several special art related events were developed specifically for the National Adaptation Forum (NAF) and the California Adaptation Forum. In 2015,"Climate Art-Climate Action" was developed for NAF to highlight the work of several St. Louis based artists who are exploring themes related to climate change and environmental stewardship.
Betsy Litton:
Art making can be both maddening and mystifying. It is an invitation for me to get out in the world to see and express my feelings. The tool I use most often is the camera. Many times I employ long, single exposures. The movement of the object and the camera create something with an uncertain outcome. I typically work on several projects at a time, moving between abstract and representational images. My work reflects my training as a painter and is very much an intuitive process.
Libby Reuter:
Since March 2011, the artists, Joshua Rowan and Libby Reuter, have been creating images that draw attention to places in the St. Louis region where the land is collecting the water, cleaning and conducting it to streams, and, ultimately, to the Missouri and finally the Mississippi River. These same rivers are the source of much of the region’s drinking water. Believing it is art’s role to make the invisible visible, and that there is no more important resource for the future than clean water, Reuter and Rowan set out to mark little known waterscapes where one can see the watershed at work or where the natural streams have been harmed or buried. After the photographs are made, the fragile cairns are removed from the landscape. By exhibiting these powerful images (identified by their street address and GIS locator) at community festivals, the artists aim for “watershedification” a broad public understanding of the watershed’s importance.
They currently have work in the exhibition at the Hunt Gallery, Webster University, St. Louis, in the Tributaries exhibit in Kansas City sponsored by the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, and the Minesota Marine Art Museum in Winona.
Jennifer Bradford:
Jennifer Bradford is a St. Louis native and a working artist with a focus on fine craft metal smithing and fiber arts. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Artscope St. Louis and partnered to create a special project on climate change and youth engagement specifically for the National Adaptation Forum. Climate Kids-St. Louis is a collaborative effort of Artscope-St. Louis and the Climate Kids project of the Climate Science Alliance. This collaborative effort focuses on supporting youth engagement on climate change and natural resource conservation through storytelling, art, and science. Come see the children’s’ art work on display in the Climate Kids Booth located in Sponsor and Exhibitor Space in the Midway Room.
Jenny Murphy:
Artist and social entrepreneur in St. Louis who founded Perennial, a local non-profit dedicated to creative reuse - or transforming items once considered trash into new functional and beautiful goods. Perennial empowers the community to view their personal creativity as an accessible tool to live resourcefully and sustainability.
Richard Reilly:
Richard Reilly's personal art practice takes place at the intersection of art, sustainability and construction. His work includes photography, collage and site based projects based on research, reading and time on the streets. Sunflower+ Project: STL is a socially engaged, vacant, urban land reutilization project that creates community engagement, creative peacemaking, an outdoor classroom, a biodiversity project and a stunning landscape bringing positive attention to the land until it is ready for redevelopment. It has been created by Don Koster of Washington University and Richard Reilly of the Earth Ways Center of the Missouri Botanical Garden as a winning entry in the Sustainable Land Lab Competition.