Join current Special Collaboration Resident Brandon Ballengée at the Plaquemines Parish Orange Festival to learn more about Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf. 10am-6pm on Saturday, December 3 and Sunday, December 4.

Brandon will share his knowledge of gulf fishes and engage festival-goers with art activities about them. Fishes are by far the most successful group of vertebrates (animals with backbones) to ever occupy Earth. Fish are marvels of adaptation and resilience, occupying almost all bodies of water on our planet, and scientists have described over 34,000 species with new species being found all the time! However, overfishing, oil spills, changes to habitats and climate have caused many species to decline. The Gulf of Mexico is home to 77 endemic fishes, found nowhere else in the world, and many of these have not been reported in recent decades.

Searching for Ghosts of the Gulf brings artist, biologist and educator Brandon Ballengée to A Studio in the Woods for a community-based residency with Plaquemines Parish coastal communities. Through participatory art and science, this project will explore missing Gulf of Mexico fish species with youth, fishermen, and community members that are themselves under threat.