Wo(men) Mind the Water Podcast
Exploring the connection between women and water through storytelling
Listen to Our Latest Episodes.
When we want to communicate, we use art.
Our Artivist Series brings you conversations with creators from around the world whose work is shaped by the ocean—and who, in turn, use their creativity to protect it. Each episode explores an artist’s connection to water, the stories behind their practice, and the ways art can spark action for a healthier, more resilient planet.
We’ve produced more than 100 episodes, featuring artivists working across every medium imaginable.
Stay tuned. We have so much more to share.
Inspirational Wo(men) Who’ve Shared Their Passion for the Ocean with Us
Artivist Series - Merle Liivand
Merle Liivand is an aquapreneur, plastic pollution reduction advocate, Guinness World Record holder and mermaid. The Estonian-born swimmer holds several Guinness World Records her latest was achieved on April 15, 2023, in a little over 14 hours. Merle swam 50 kilometers using a monofin, a record setting swim for the longest distance swum using a monofin. It's a feat because she swam the distance without using her arms by undulating her lower body up and down mermaid-style.
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 -Sarah Cameron Sunde
Sarah received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for her nine-part series 36.5/A Durational Performance with the Sea. This work has been performed on six continents in places as far flung as New Zealand, Kenya, and New York City. Sarah’s intention is to connect humans with water and the impact of climate change. During each site specific performance she stands in the water for a full tidal (12.5+ hours). The rise and fall of the tide on her body is reflective of what has occurred in nature in the ancient past and will continue to do so unrelentingly into the future.
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 - Holly Rankin aka Jack River
Holly Rankin is the latest guest on the Women Mind the Water Artivist series on WomenMind theWater.com. Holly is an Australian singer/songwriter/festival promoter, and an activist in the areas of environmental and social justice. Also known as Jack River, her music often deals with difficult topics, like personal tragedy, climate change, and social justice. Holly believes transforming such messages into music has the power to inspire action.
Artivist Series - Kara Dodge
Kara Dodge is a research scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center in Boston. The Center is the research arm of the New England Aquarium. Kara’s specialty is the ecology of marine animals and more specifically sea turtles. There is artistry to Kara's scientific research and her use of cutting-edge technology like satellite tagging and drones. She works to enrich our knowledge of sea turtles and the impacts of humans on them.
Artivist Series - Hoku Cody
Hoku Cody, a Native Hawaiian, seabird biologist, and life-long ocean lover, protector, and advocate advocates for community stewardship in actions, that revitalize traditional rights within Hawaiʻi’s natural and cultural resource management industries. Hoku works with the National Ocean Protection Coalition to create and support marine protected areas and have the Pacific Remote Islands designated a National Marine Sanctuary.
Artivist Series - Vicki Nichols Goldstein
Vicki Nichols Goldstein is the latest guest on the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast. Vicki is founder of the Inland Ocean Coalition. Her impressive credentials include a master’s degree in marine policy from Yale University and working with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to co-write documents for the designation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Vicki served as the Executive Director of the California-based Save Our Shores. When she moved to Colorado, she founded the Colorado Ocean Coalition and in 2017 Vicki rebranded it as the Inland Ocean Coalition. Inland Ocean Coalition empowers citizens wherever they live to be leaders and make positive contributions to ocean protection.
Artivist Series - Rebecca Rutstein
Rebecca Rutstein, an accomplished artist who has received many awards and been involved in numerous public exhibitions, is the latest guest on Women Mind the Water Artivist Series Podcast (womenmindthewater.com/featured-guests). Rebecca’s career has taken her to remarkable places including the high seas and the ocean floor. In all, her artwork strives to build connections with nature, inspire wonder, and foster environmental stewardship.
Artivist Series - Lisa Scali
Lisa Scali considers herself a foodie and a lover of the ocean. She is more than a co-owner of Ocean’s Balance and a chef, she is a proponent of eating more sustainably by consuming seaweed. Lisa who has lived in Paris and New York, two of the world’s best-known cities for foodies, now lives in Portland, Maine where she leads a culinary trend to encourage Americans to eat more seaweed, a plant that is farmed and harvested from the ocean.
Artivist Series -Tosha Grantham
Tosha Grantham is the latest guest on Women Mind the Water Artivist series on WomenMindtheWater.com. Tosha who holds an advanced degree from Howard University in art history, with a focus on contemporary art and specializations in American and African diaspora arts, lives in Florida where she learned about the work of Diving with a Purpose, an international nonprofit that for trains Black scuba divers to assist in the documentation of underwater culturally and environmentally important sites. Our conversation highlights her experiences with Diving with a Purpose and the important work they are doing. DWP focuses on both archaeological work on shipwrecks and ecological study of the health of coral beds.
Artivist Series -Abigail Carroll
Latest guest on Women Mind the Water Artivist Series (womenmindthewater.com) is Abigail Carroll, once an oyster farmer, she now advises/invests in high-growth start-ups focused on solving sustainability issues. We talk about women’s involvement in oyster farming in Maine, what it takes to be a successful innovator and what we can individuals do to foster a sustainable planet.
Artivist Series - Julia C R Gray
Julia CR Gray is the latest guest on the Women Mind the Water Artivist series podcast. The California-based artist has a connection to nature through her sculptures. Julia uses slip-casting and hand-building methods to mold female forms that represent the strength and vulnerability of women. A dichotomy that Julia believes women’s bodies share with the ocean. Julia’s love of nature, her walks on the beach at sunrise and contemplation of the perfect spiral of a seashell are evident in her sculptures.
Artivist Series - Kimberly Kenna
Kimberly Kenna, a children’s book author who grew up along the shore of Long Island Sound writes books focused on strong girls and their powerful drive to protect the natural world. Kimberly says that only 26% of protagonists in middle grade books are female..Before becoming an author worked with youngsters as a counselor and a teacher of ecology and language arts. Her stories aim to get readers involved, have them think about themselves, their relationships with others and with nature.
Artivist Series - Nicole Baker
Nicole Baker with her Net Your Problem company has created a system that offers a solution to the disposal of used fishing gear. Net Your Problem collects used ropes and nets from fishers in Alaska, Maine, Massachusetts, and California and passes it on to recyclers and artists. Since it began in 2017, Net Your Problem has recycled more than 1.2 Million pounds of fishing gear.
Artivist Series - Dimitra Skandali
Dimitra Skandali grew up on Paros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. She says the island has shaped the way she sees the world. Dimitra combines traditional fiber arts like crochet, embroidery, and weaving with sea grasses and beach trash as a way to focus attention on the ocean and the environmental issues that impact its health and sustainability. While her work is rooted in her relationship with the Aegean Sea, Dimitra also has ties to the Pacific Ocean, having spent almost a decade in California. By using beach trash and natural materials she explores sustainability and other environmental issues like ocean pollution. Her installations, which have been curated in more than 90 solo and group exhibitions worldwide, allude to increasing environmental risks alongside human migrations and struggles with identity.
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.
Artivist Series - Margaret Wertheim
Margaret Wertheim is an Australian-born science writer and artist who with her twin sister founded the Institute for Figuring. The Los-Angeles-based nonprofit explores the interrelationship of art, science, mathematics, and women’s handiwork. The Crochet Coral Reef is one of their projects and what we will focus our discussion on today. Margaret Wertheim holds degrees in mathematics and physics. Based on the mathematical discoveries of another mathematically-minded woman, Margaret and her twin sister Christine originated the Crochet Coral Reef project as a response to climate change. The Wertheims’ crocheted representations of coral has become a global collaboration with tens of thousands of people contributing their own pieces to citizen-generated art-installations.
Artivist Series - Maanarak of Grey
Manaarak of Grey is a visual artist and storyteller who lives in the Netherlands. Maanarak grew up on the Caribbean Island of Bonaire. She believes the ocean and water are a vital part of life for humans and the ecosystem. Maanarak likes to use her platform to talk about current issues and offer solutions from the perspective of someone who has studied international development management. On the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series she shares her thoughts about the ocean, plastic pollution, collaboration and art.
Artivist Series - Danielle Burnside
Art is an extension of her soul. It’s a way to express her passion and embodies her commitment to preserving our planet. Her hope is that her artwork conveys a sense of swimming in the sea and leads to a connection to the powerful forces within the sea and within each of us. On the Women Mind the Water Artivist Series podcast we explore her sea shell series, images of marine animals she paints inside real sea shells. The work is both unusual and engaging.