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 -Wallace “J” Nichols
J talks about his work and explores his connection with the ocean. J has always been emotionally attached to water. He can go way back to his childhood where he remembers always being the first one in the water. He grew up wanting to be a problem solver, someone who wanted to roll up his sleeves and get the work done. In college. J has found that nature has helped him be connected, to feel awe and wonder and joy and peace and freedom. He believes we need to provide opportunity for young leaders give them space to restore themselves and be energized to come back and do the work
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 - 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 - 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.
