AICAD and NOAA Announce Placement of 2022 Art + Science Fellow

Intergenerational strategies for Liberation 2022, mixed media, Mickey L.D. Morgan

The Association of Independent Colleges of Art & Design (AICAD) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries are pleased to announce the placement of Mickey Morgan into the third AICAD/NOAA Fisheries Art + Science Fellowship.

Mickey L.D. Morgan is a visual and community practice artist and a care worker. They are passionate about neighborliness, believing that every human and non-human part of an ecosystem are essential to all of our lives, which has been a strong theme in their work over the past three years. In 2021, Mickey graduated from Emily Carr University of Art and Design majoring in Visual Arts with a minor in Social Practice and Community Engagement, their final project being the community practice project Mapping East Van. Mickey is nourished by collaboration, imagination, and hope, creating opportunities for everyone to share their knowledge and listen to others’ with their community-centered art practice.

The AICAD/NOAA Fisheries Art + Science Fellowship provides a hands-on opportunity for a recent graduate to apply their art & design education to ecological and social concerns and address them by connecting communities around challenging resource issues. Morgan will complete a 6-week residency with NOAA Fisheries during summer 2022, followed by a period through February 2023 off-site to research, produce, and distribute creative work.

The 2022 Fellowship will focus on work with NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region’s California Coastal Office to connect with communities to support recovery of seven listed salmon species native to the coast of California: California Coastal Chinook, Southern Oregon Northern California Coast Coho Salmon, Central California Coast Coho Salmon, Southern California Steelhead, South Central California Steelhead, Central California Coast Steelhead, and Northern California Steelhead.

The selection committee was comprised of several artists and NOAA Fisheries professionals, including:

Isabel Beavers: Isabel is a transdisciplinary artist and creative producer based in Los Angeles. She creates installations, public art, and digital experiences that explore the climate crisis, technology, and ecological justice. In 2020, Beavers co-founded the Great Pause Project, an open-source archive documenting the COVID-19 Pandemic experience. She is Manager of Artistic Research with SUPERCOLLIDER and Youth Development Specialist with artworxLA. She holds a B.S. from the University of Vermont, and an M.F.A from School of Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.

Jane Marsching: An interdisciplinary artist, Jane explores our past, present and future human impact on the environment through collaborative research-based practices. She has sited projects in museums and galleries as well as weather observatories, public parks, city streets, radio waves, and the internet. She has worked with scientists, educators, kite builders, meteorologists, architects, and musicians, among others. Recent exhibitions include: Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Ketchum, Idaho; University of Massachusetts, Boston; Northern Spark, Minneapolis, MN; Kilroy Metal Ceiling, Brooklyn; Galerie Lucy Mackintosh, Lausanne, Switzerland; Tierra des Explorades, Buenos Aires; and MassMoCA.

John Longchamps: John is the Founder of Longchamps & Company – an interdisciplinary firm with a strong dedication to upholding principles of sustainability and belief in the power of human potential. He earned a BFA in Industrial Design from Kendall College of Art and Design and completed a MA in Sustainable Design at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. His practice is specialized in design, innovation, and research for the development of products, services, systems, and experiences.

Jean M. Castillo: Jean has been a hydraulic/fish passage engineer with the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region for over five years. She has worked in various levels and capacities, assisting with technical reviews on several weir, screen, intake, gate, barrier and dam removal projects along with finding scientific based solutions for projects. Throughout this time, Jean has worked on various studies including physical metrics and behavioural studies of Sturgeon passage needs and climate change guidance for salmonid fish passage.

Karen Edson: Karen is a public affairs officer with NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. Karen is an innovative and technical leader with more than 15 years of success in public affairs, communications, marketing, project management, environmental regulation and international development.

NOAA Fisheries is the federal agency responsible for conservation of the nation’s living marine resources and their habitats. On the West Coast, NOAA Fisheries focuses on recovering endangered salmon and steelhead species, protecting marine mammals and sea turtles, and sustainably managing ocean fisheries. Through our activities in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California, we work with numerous agencies, state and tribal co-managers, organizations, and citizens to promote science-based activities that sustain living marine resources.

AICAD – the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design – is a non-profit consortium of the leading arts and design schools in the US and Canada. Founded in 1991, the mission is to help strengthen the member colleges individually and collectively, and to inform the public about these colleges and the value of studying arts and design. AICAD member institutions educate more than 50,000 undergraduate and graduate students each year, plus many thousands more in summer and continuing education programs.