Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf
FishSTOCK!
Join us and artist Brandon Ballengée in Plaquemines Parish, on March 25, for a community celebration of art, adaptation, and fishes!
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, and 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.
This event is part of Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf, a collaborative project with the Plaquemines Parish Government supported by an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
FEATURING:
Searching for the Ghosts of the Gulf
Hands-on art & science activities
Tour of the world’s largest fish collection
Fishy foods from Bad Wolf, Woodlands Plantation, and more
MUSIC SCHEDULE:11:30am-12:30pm – Sidiki Conde & Wowo Souakoli with Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes and Peter Carter
1:00-2:00pm – Aaron Foret and the Swamp Pop Band
2:30-3:15pm – Valparaiso Men’s Chorus
PARTICIPATING ARTISTS & ORGANIZATIONS:
Artists: Brandon Ballengée, Cori Ander, Hannah Chalew, Shannon Cruz, Hye Sea, Pippin Frisbie-Calder and student artists from Plaquemines Parish.
Organizations: Campaign Restore the Mississippi River Delta, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act, Couvillion Group, Delta Discovery Tours, The Hive, Glass Half Full, LAYAYA Bus, The Nature Project, Woodlands Conservancy, Woodland Plantation and more!!
PRESS:
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 at risk 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. The project will culminate on March 25, 2023 with FishSTOCK, a festival dedicated to those species not seen since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Read our February 2022 project update here.
Read our September 2022 project update here.
Brandon Ballengée is a visual artist, biologist, and environmental activist based in Arnaudville, Louisiana, who creates artwork inspired from his ecological field and laboratory research. Through research, he focuses on the impact of the Anthropocene on human and non-human communities, and his artistic practice combines participatory science programs with poetic interpretations of extinct or deformed animals due to human impact. https://brandonballengee.com/
The mission of the Plaquemines Parish Government is to provide high quality, efficient services to sustain and enhance the quality of life for all residents of Plaquemines Parish. https://www.plaqueminesparish.com/
This project is supported by an Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.