Artivist Series - Katie Horning
Katie Horning is a water steward based in Michigan. She serves as Chair of the River Days Festival in Midland and is a leader of the online platform Rivers are Life. Rivers are Life’s mission is to build awareness of and connection with rivers and, in doing so, inspire action to protect, preserve, and explore them. One way Katie does this is to promote the stories of River Heroes. She believes highlighting their projects is an impactful way to showcase the value of rivers.
Artivist Series - Lisa Kozel Mangione
Lisa Kozel Mangione is a mixed media artist who is the definition of artivist. Lisa raises money for charitable causes by either donating her work to the organizations directly or selling her work and donating the proceeds. Lisa is using her art in service of the Perryman Peninsula Project, a rural community in Harford County, Maryland. The land known as Mitchell Farm is under consideration for development as a freight distribution district. The possibility of the land being transformed from rural to industrial has spurred Lisa to action. She is concerned about the harm the development will cause on an area that used to be wetland. Already industrialization impacts local waterways and ultimately Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States. The new proposal will cause additional pressure and to be sited closer or on the water. Lisa wants people to know that even an average person can make a difference. “If everybody realizes that they have a small piece of the puzzle. It may be a small piece but when you put all the pieces together it becomes something big and good.
Artivist Series - Blue de Gersigny
Blue de Gersigny is a plastic artist and designer. Blue lives in South Africa, a country quite literally at the southern tip of the African Continent. It is a country with nearly 3000 km or 1800 miles of coastline, bordering the Indian, South Atlantic and Antarctic oceans. From the beaches near her home, Blue collects colorful plastic and transforms it into eye-catching wearable art. Her intention is to make people aware of plastic debris and pick it up rather than walking by it.
Blue worked for many years as a textile designer until she realized she wanted to be an artist working with found objects. Originally Blue collected natural objects like bone, driftwood, and stone. Eventually, she was attracted to the colorful plastic that litters the beaches. Today her work is created almost entirely of plastic. The relentless of plastic waste rolling in on the tides inspires Blue to start her Plastics Are Forever website. Blue creates eye grabbing wearable art which she artfully displays on Instagram. After seeing one of her posts on Instagram, I knew I had to have her on this podcast.