Artivist Series - Kathryn Pharr
Kathryn Pharr is the leader of a global community of women who focus on issues related to water. Kathryn believes that water is a source for female empowerment. She founded the Community of Women in Water as a global network which now counts more than 1000 members. Their focus is empowering women who work professionally in WASH (i.e., water, sanitation and hygiene). The Community of Women in Water wants women to be leaders in WASH on the local to global levels.
Artivist Series - Joselyn Takacs
Novelist Joselyn Takacs recently published Pearce Oysters, an intimate look at how the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig back in 2010 impacted the lives of oyster fishers who make their livelihoods fishing on the very real Caminada Bay. The impact from the disaster, still the largest in history, became the impetus for Joselyn to nine years of research before she completed her novel. Joselyn discusses what learned that the act of writing a novel is its own reward. She says: “A good day is a good day of writing. It’s the best feeling and should be enough to sustain this, well, career slash hobby that I have of writing fiction.” We also explore on the podcast more about farming for oysters in the Gulf of Mexico.
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 -Tracy Metz
Tracy Metz is a journalist, author and podcast maker. She also is the director of the John Adams Institute, an independent foundation in the Netherlands, that brings the best and the brightest of American thinking to the Netherlands. Tracy is passionate about the interplay between urban issues, architecture, and the natural environment, particularly water. Her book Sweet&Salt: Water and the Dutch, investigates the change in the country’s approach to water management in times of climate change. Her podcast Water Talks addresses global issues with water – too much, too little, too dirty and too unequal. Water Talks grew out of the United Nations conference on water held in NYC in March 2023.
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 - Lisa Shaw
Lisa’s work demonstrates a woman deeply connected to water. She creates functional art that improves both the environment and people’s lives. Lisa is cofounder of the Scottish-based company Biomatrix Water. Their work involves the creation of floating islands or habitats that restore water quality, ecological habitat, and human connection to nature. Biomatrix Water does this with an interdisciplinary approach combining art, nature, and technology. Lisa explains how art and technology can work along with nature to heal urban eyesores and restore fresh water, estuarine, and even marine environment.
Artivist Series - Jayshree Patel
Jayshree imagined that a book from the perspective of a drop of water could transport children on their own journey and along the way they might learn how precious a resource water is. The overarching message from the book is to go out in nature and explore and remember that where there is water there is life. If you are connected with water, you are connected with our whole world.
