In Conversation: Mary Mattingly on Laguna Madre

Name: In Conversation: Mary Mattingly on Laguna Madre
Start: 2025-11-06T10:30:00-06:00
Location: 100 N. Shoreline Blvd, Corpus Christi, TX, United States, Texas 78401

Schedule

Thu, 06 Nov, 2025 at 10:30 am

UTC-06:00

Location

100 N. Shoreline Blvd, Corpus Christi, TX, United States, Texas 78401 | Corpus Christi, TX

Join us for an intimate gallery conversation featuring Mary Mattingly, artist and 2024 national recipient of the Laguna Madre Residency, in dialogue with Dianna Bluntzer Sherman, Executive Director of the Art Center of Corpus Christi.
Introduction by Dr. David McKee
Dr. David McKee, Professor Emeritus of Marine Biology at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, will provide the introduction to Mary's talk. Dr. McKee studied and worked in the Laguna Madre ecosystem for over four decades during his career, previously serving as Coordinator of the MS in Mariculture degree program at TAMU-CC and Associate Director of the TAMU-CC Laguna Madre Field Station. His expertise spans ichthyology, marine ecology, and fisheries science, with particular specialization in the unique waters of the Upper Laguna Madre. A self-described "lagunatic," Dr. McKee spent countless hours on these waters throughout his career, from his early days as a commercial fisherman to his years mentoring the next generation of marine scientists. He still owns a fishing cabin on Baffin Bay and remains actively involved in conservation efforts.
Selected through a competitive application process, Mary spent five transformative days alone on an off-grid island research station in South Texas, immersing herself in the unique ecosystems of the Laguna Madre. This conversation will explore her artistic journey over the 10 months following this profound experience and how it has influenced her ongoing practice of creating sculptural ecosystems that address urgent environmental issues.
Known for her participatory public projects that prioritize access to food, shelter, and water, Mary's work offers powerful insights into our relationship with natural environments and climate adaptation. This gallery talk provides a rare opportunity to hear directly from an artist whose practice bridges ecological awareness, collective imagining, and care for our shared resources.
Don't miss this opportunity to engage with work that invites us to rediscover our connection to the natural world and consider art as a tool for environmental imagination and investigation.
Special thanks for our collaboration with the Center for Coastal Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the Robert J. Kleberg, Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation for making this residency possible.
About Mary Mattingly
Artist, partner, daughter, sister, and collaborator.
"I was raised in an agricultural town near Springfield, Massachusetts, where the local drinking water was contaminated by agricultural chemicals. That experience shaped my understanding of clean water as both increasingly rare and a fundamental right, and it deepened my resolve to protect it. Since 2001, I've lived in New York City, creating sculptural ecosystems that prioritize access to food, shelter, and water. My work often takes the form of participatory public projects rooted in care, ecological awareness, and collective imagining." - Mary Mattingly
Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores ecological relationships through sculptural ecosystems and collage. Her public projects, such as Swale, a floating food forest in New York City's waterways; Waterpod, a self-sufficient living structure on a barge; and the Flock House Project, a series of mobile habitats, address urgent issues around water, food systems, and climate adaptation.
Mattingly's work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum, Storm King Art Center, the International Center of Photography, the Barbican, Seoul Art Center, and the Palais de Tokyo. She has received fellowships and residencies from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Yale School of Art, A Blade of Grass, and the Anchorage Museum among others. Her work has been featured in Art21, The New York Times, and Le Monde.
At the core of Mattingly's practice is a belief in art as a form of investigation and a tool for imagination.