Breaking the Surface

A Panel Discussion on Art & The Climate Crisis

On January 25th, 2022, Atlantika hosted a live, online panel discussion titled “Breaking the Surface” led by Atlantika member Todd Forsgren with six exciting panelists. The discussion took as its jumping off point, Atlantika Collective’s exhibition, Prescient Surfaces, at Ryniker-Morrison Gallery at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, Montana (MT). The exhibition represents the response of Atlantika’s members to the ongoing climate crisis, which the panel discussion expanded on, by focusing on art’s role in combating the climate crisis, the possibilities inherent in collaborations between artists and scientists, and related topics.

Atlantika was privileged to host a very insightful and talented panel that included local Montana environmentalists, international experts on climate change, and accomplished curators. The panel included:

• Marcus Kauffman, Public Information Officer and Biomass Resource Specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry and Independent Photographer

• Emery Three Irons, GIS analyst for the Crow Water Project at Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, MT

• Amy Morse, Media Specialist and Podcast Producer for the Environmental Defense Fund and Independent Curator

• María Alejandra Sáenz, Independent Curator and cofounder of She Habla Español (SHE)

• Jon Switzer, Owner of Switzer Landscaping and Roots Garden Center in Billings, MT, author and editor of Lost in Montana

• Mika Yoshitake, Independent Curator, working on a Getty Art × Science × LA project on climate change at UCLA’s Hammer Museum titled Breath(e)

For those who were not able to attend the live broadcast, a recording of the panel discussion is included here: