conservation from many angles. I interviewed
prominent marine researchers, conservation
professionals, and artists inspired by nature
about their thoughts on what would make a
work of art effective in influencing public and
political support for coral reef stewardship. I
then used their responses to inform the design
of an enormous—15 foot tall, 11 foot wide, 1,500
pound—hand-built ceramic coral reef sculptural installation titled Our Changing Seas: A coral
reef story. This piece debuted at the Herbert
C. Hoover Building, headquarters for the U.S.
Department of Commerce (DOC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), in downtown Washington, D.C. It
depicts a vibrant, healthy Indo-Pacific coral reef
with an upward transition into coral bleaching and algal domination. It is now on loan
down the street from its original venue in the
American Association for the Advancement of
Science (AAAS), which publishes Science magazine. Quotes from my interview participants
are included in a website that accompanies the
piece: www.ourchangingseas.org.
SAiA: You refer to yourself as an "Artivist" (an
artist-advocate) focusing on ocean advocacy.
Has your work thus far sparked any changes in
environmental/oceanographic policy, or if not,
what specific changes in policy would you like
to inspire with your work?
CM: As an “Artivist,” my goal is to bring the
beauty and peril of marine ecosystems above
the surface and into view in hopes that viewers of my work will become inspired to change
their lifestyle choices and the policies that drive
them to restore and protect our Blue Planet. It’s
going to take a whole lot more than inspirational artwork to solve climate change, ocean acidification, pollution, and over fishing, but creating this work is something that I can uniquely
do to make a difference.
My original Our Changing Seas installation
in Washington, D.C. has served as a powerful
teaching aid and was used by NOAA in creative
ways to familiarize the U.S. Government and
the public with its policies regarding coral reef
protection and restoration. When the piece
Most recently—this past September—I com- debuted in NOAA and DOC headquarters 2011,
pleted a second piece inspired by the original,
Dr. Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Administrator
titled Our Changing Seas: An Atlantic & Caribbe an and Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans
coral reef story, which was commissioned by the
and Atmosphere, spoke at the opening recepNova Southeastern University Oceanographic
tion. Later that summer, the NOAA Coral Reef
Center for permanent installation in the foyer
Conservation Program featured Dr. Lubchenco
of its Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Eco- and me in a video to spread awareness about the
systems Research—a gorgeous new state-of-the- piece and highlight NOAA’s efforts to mitigate
art research facility in South Florida. This new
threats to reefs. Andy Winer—NOAA's Direcpiece is multi-sided and depicts a 360° transitor of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships
tion from a healthy Caribbean reef into one
at the time—was featured in a separate policy
that has been bleached and degraded, then back brief video and referred to my installation to
again with a sense of hope for recovery.
discuss the priorities of the U.S. Government
regarding its efforts to protect coral reefs.
I hope the idea of one small person creating
such huge, intricately detailed sculptural instalI anticipate that my most recent Our Changing
lations will cause viewers to realize just how
Seas
piece in Florida will also inspire political
important coral reefs are to me and to become
support
for reef conservation, since the NSU
curious enough to learn more about how the
Oceanographic
Center in which it is installed
ocean is important to them. I also enjoy feeling
is home to the National Coral Reef Institute
like a coral, patiently and methodically con(NCRI), which was established by Congress in
structing large, delicate stony structures that
1998 to assess, monitor, and restore coral reefs
can change an ecosystem. I’m excited because
through research and education. As one of
I’ve decided to make Our Changing Seas into a
series and am just now starting work on a third NOAA’s external Coral Reef Institute partners,
NCRI has long supported NOAA’s mission by
ceramic coral reef installation that will debut
providing outstanding scientific research to
at the Tang Museum in upstate New York this
support federal, state, and local management
spring.
and conservation in providing local, regional,
national, and international research products
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SciArt in America December 2013