Public Programs available for 'Unseen' exhibition
Given the cross-disciplinary approach to the exhibition itself, it makes sense that public programs available for this exhibition include both artist and scientist; providing a program that will facilitate a deeper engagement with both contemporary art and ecological systems to a diverse audience.
Artist – Bio
BA (Art) Donna Davis explores the nexus between art and science. She creates new ways of working with ecological concepts and data to develop artworks that capture and create sites of environmental observation. As an artist, she is intrigued with the idea of connection, and works across a range of media including sculpture, installation and digital media to explore connections and relationships with the natural world. She believes that the art/science field provides a powerful catalyst to challenge our discourse, raise environmental awareness and promote conservation of our ecology: by providing new ways of 'seeing' and creating new 'connections' in the mind of the viewer.
Ecologist – Bio
B.Sc (Hons – First Class) La Trobe University, Ph D University of Tasmania
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher is an ecologist, mycologist and expert in the conservation management and ecology of cryptogams, particularly macrofungi and mosses. With only a handful of mycologists in Australia, she couples her field of expertise with a passionate focus on community education and ecology. By bringing these two areas together she helps people understand what fungi are doing in ecosystems and why they are import to conserve. As an ecological advocate she has undertaken many community education and engagement programs working with citizen scientists, council, community groups and novices alike. Her experience includes environmental consultancy, ecological research, biodiversity surveys, tertiary education, event management and publishing. Currently based in Victoria, Sapphire continues to work with Queensland communities with her most recent work producing two pocket field guides for the Sunshine Coast on mushrooms and fungi. She particularly enjoys getting out into the bush to discover fungal treasures as often as she can. https://funfungiecology.com/
Outline of the programs available:
Art/Science workshops: Exploring the intersections between art and science
Donna Davis & Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Artist and scientist will work together to engage community members directly with their natural environments through a series of art / science workshops that explore photography, nature observations, identification skills, digital tools and contemporary art making practices.
Participants will learn how to use photography and nature observations to develop identification skills; discuss workshop tricks for photography to help flora and fungal identification; make a digital record of their findings in a digital field recording application; and learn how these processes can act as inspiration for the creative practice of art making.
Workshops are for naturalists, artists, creatives, citizen scientists and the inquisitive; by including a diverse range of participants in each group – inspiration and shared learning is part of the process of cultivating cross-collaborative approaches to both art and science. Stimulating new ideas and collaborations amongst diverse community groups.
Floor Talk: Contemporary art making: Exploring the intersections between art and science: 1hr format
Donna Davis + Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Artist and Scientist discuss underlying artistic and scientific concepts behind the works in the exhibition.
Art/Science crossovers (for science and art educators): 4hr workshop
Donna Davis & Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Sapphire will cover ways to use photography and nature observations to develop identification skills; she will discuss workshop tricks for photography to help fungal identification. Donna will present a hands on workshop on how to this data can be artistically explored and used as an entry point for inspiration in the creative process. The art making activities will be fluid, depending on each group, however will focus on drawing, soft sculpture or assemblage based works.
Artist floor talk: 1hr format
Donna Davis
An informal floor-talk to discuss the underlying artistic concepts and creative processes behind the works in the exhibition.
Artist Workshop – Soft sculptures: 3hr format
Donna Davis
Drawing inspiration from the microscopic world, with reference to photographic images of flora seeds and fungi spores, learn how to create a small soft sculpture from discarded fabric samples to take home.
Ecological Science talk for community: 1hr format
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
For the community to be able to engage with cryptogams, in particular macrofungi and mosses, they firstly need to know what they are and what roles they play in ecosystems and conservation. She will talk about her role in the Fungimap and how citizen science can play a valuable part in ecological conservation strategies.
Ecological Science for teachers/schools (for science and art educators): 4 hr workshop
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Designed especially for educators, Sapphire will discuss ways of working with nature including fungi, lichens and mosses to encourage ecological learning. She will talk about teaching strategies, learning outcomes, equipment, tools, risk management and preparation for taking students into the field. Sapphire can also discuss fun identification games to help students develop identification skills using focus sets: fungi, cryptogams and native Australian flora.
Other options can be arranged individually with venues to suit their needs, as required.
Given the cross-disciplinary approach to the exhibition itself, it makes sense that public programs available for this exhibition include both artist and scientist; providing a program that will facilitate a deeper engagement with both contemporary art and ecological systems to a diverse audience.
Artist – Bio
BA (Art) Donna Davis explores the nexus between art and science. She creates new ways of working with ecological concepts and data to develop artworks that capture and create sites of environmental observation. As an artist, she is intrigued with the idea of connection, and works across a range of media including sculpture, installation and digital media to explore connections and relationships with the natural world. She believes that the art/science field provides a powerful catalyst to challenge our discourse, raise environmental awareness and promote conservation of our ecology: by providing new ways of 'seeing' and creating new 'connections' in the mind of the viewer.
Ecologist – Bio
B.Sc (Hons – First Class) La Trobe University, Ph D University of Tasmania
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher is an ecologist, mycologist and expert in the conservation management and ecology of cryptogams, particularly macrofungi and mosses. With only a handful of mycologists in Australia, she couples her field of expertise with a passionate focus on community education and ecology. By bringing these two areas together she helps people understand what fungi are doing in ecosystems and why they are import to conserve. As an ecological advocate she has undertaken many community education and engagement programs working with citizen scientists, council, community groups and novices alike. Her experience includes environmental consultancy, ecological research, biodiversity surveys, tertiary education, event management and publishing. Currently based in Victoria, Sapphire continues to work with Queensland communities with her most recent work producing two pocket field guides for the Sunshine Coast on mushrooms and fungi. She particularly enjoys getting out into the bush to discover fungal treasures as often as she can. https://funfungiecology.com/
Outline of the programs available:
Art/Science workshops: Exploring the intersections between art and science
Donna Davis & Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Artist and scientist will work together to engage community members directly with their natural environments through a series of art / science workshops that explore photography, nature observations, identification skills, digital tools and contemporary art making practices.
Participants will learn how to use photography and nature observations to develop identification skills; discuss workshop tricks for photography to help flora and fungal identification; make a digital record of their findings in a digital field recording application; and learn how these processes can act as inspiration for the creative practice of art making.
Workshops are for naturalists, artists, creatives, citizen scientists and the inquisitive; by including a diverse range of participants in each group – inspiration and shared learning is part of the process of cultivating cross-collaborative approaches to both art and science. Stimulating new ideas and collaborations amongst diverse community groups.
Floor Talk: Contemporary art making: Exploring the intersections between art and science: 1hr format
Donna Davis + Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Artist and Scientist discuss underlying artistic and scientific concepts behind the works in the exhibition.
Art/Science crossovers (for science and art educators): 4hr workshop
Donna Davis & Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Sapphire will cover ways to use photography and nature observations to develop identification skills; she will discuss workshop tricks for photography to help fungal identification. Donna will present a hands on workshop on how to this data can be artistically explored and used as an entry point for inspiration in the creative process. The art making activities will be fluid, depending on each group, however will focus on drawing, soft sculpture or assemblage based works.
Artist floor talk: 1hr format
Donna Davis
An informal floor-talk to discuss the underlying artistic concepts and creative processes behind the works in the exhibition.
Artist Workshop – Soft sculptures: 3hr format
Donna Davis
Drawing inspiration from the microscopic world, with reference to photographic images of flora seeds and fungi spores, learn how to create a small soft sculpture from discarded fabric samples to take home.
Ecological Science talk for community: 1hr format
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
For the community to be able to engage with cryptogams, in particular macrofungi and mosses, they firstly need to know what they are and what roles they play in ecosystems and conservation. She will talk about her role in the Fungimap and how citizen science can play a valuable part in ecological conservation strategies.
Ecological Science for teachers/schools (for science and art educators): 4 hr workshop
Dr Sapphire McMullan-Fisher
Designed especially for educators, Sapphire will discuss ways of working with nature including fungi, lichens and mosses to encourage ecological learning. She will talk about teaching strategies, learning outcomes, equipment, tools, risk management and preparation for taking students into the field. Sapphire can also discuss fun identification games to help students develop identification skills using focus sets: fungi, cryptogams and native Australian flora.
Other options can be arranged individually with venues to suit their needs, as required.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS & TALKS
CAIRNS Programs: Registrations now closed - Event Passed