Artivist Series - Sophie Guarasci
Sophie Guarasci worked in the world of fashion and finance before becoming a licensed veterinary tech. She works at the Marine Mammal Center, the nation’s foremost marine mammal hospital located just north of San Francisco. Sophie oversees the clinical and surgical treatment and husbandry of seals, sea lions, and sea otters. It’s her dream job, even though there are times she has to make difficult decisions about the treatment of severely ill animals.
Artivist Series - Angela Abshier
Angela Abshier is a commercial lawyer and founder Sail to Shelter, a not-for-profit that repurposes elite and super yacht sails into shade and shelter for humanitarian purposes. Angela came up with the idea for Sail to Shelter after being introduced to offshore racing. She envisioned that the strong but light weight fabrics might be useful in settings where permanent construction is too costly and building supplies might not be readily available or suitable. A sail is large enough to cover a soccer field. Because the sailing community has yet to step up and take responsibility for their sails 97% end up in landfills. Angela estimates each sail is equivalent to 10,000 water bottles.
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 -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 - Bonnie Monteleone
Bonnie Montelone is a researcher, environmental science-educator, film maker, artist, and co-founder of the Plastic Ocean Project, a non-profit seeking science-based solutions to the global plastic pollution crisis. Bonnie has collected marine plastic on a global scale. She is affiliated with the Environmental Studies Department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington where she works as an Adjunct Instructor of Plastic Marine Debris Field Studies. She also serves as an advisor for students conducting research on marine plastic. Additionally, Bonnie is an artist who uses the plastic she’s collects to create visual stories about her research.
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 -Hannah St. Luce Martinez
Hannah St. Luce-Martinez, well-versed in Belize’s natural and cultural resources, describes Belize, its natural resources, conservation and biodiversity, and the importance of promoting inclusivity and empowering youth and women.
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 - 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 - 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 - 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 - 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.
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.
Artivist Series -Violet Sage Walker
Violet Sage Walker is the chairwoman of the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. Among her many passions and activities, she is an accomplished horsewoman, SCUBA diver, as well as steward of Chumash natural resources, culture and history. Violet carries on the legacy of her late father Chief Fred Collins who had a vision to protect a section of California coastline. He worked to have 156 miles designated as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. It would be the 17th National Marine Sanctuary and the first Indigenous-led sanctuary. This marine sanctuary would serve as a natural bridge between the Channel Islands, and the Monterey Bay National Marine sanctuaries.
Artivist Series - Colleen Flanigan
Colleen describes herself as a socio-ecological artist. Her work is both functional and artistic. Colleen works at the intersection of art, science, technology, and the environment. Colleen has created metalwork in many forms including jewelry and puppets for motion pictures such as the stop-motion animation Coraline, a 2009 film directed by Henry Selick.. Colleen designed and built a sculptural frame for coral. This work promotes a healthy marine community, one that thrives in the presence of the coral growing on the frame. Her Living Sea Sculpture is on display in an underwater museum in Cozumel, Mexico. The video version of the podcast includes underwater footage of Colleen and her Living Sea Sculpture.
Artivist Series - Erin Smith
Erin Smith is the CEO of Ocean Sole, a social enterprise that upcycles flip-flops found along the beaches and waterways of Kenya. Started a decade ago, Ocean Sole has created a unique space to talk about flip flop debris and a successful model for cleaning up ocean trash, and transforming the trash into colorful sculptures, high fashion clothes, and mattresses.