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Join the EcoArt Salon this Thursday as we engage with interdisciplinary artists Sean Connelly and Jane Chang Mi. They will discuss the idea of ahupua’a in their works, asking us to follow a drop of water from mountain to the sea through their conversation. Mi will present about her work underlining the powerful and enmeshed ties of community and the environment brought forth during the Hawaiian Renaissance as well as with the current situation involving the fight for Mauna Kea. Among the projects that Connelly will be presenting will include his work for the Ala Wai Centennial and ideas for Hawai’i—and more broadly our planetary—futures.

The EcoArt Salon is a monthly gathering that is free and open to the public for those interested in EcoArt and the environment to share their projects, discuss issues, network, and collaborate together.

The ongoing salon gatherings bring together artists, writers, curators, scholars, and the public from the NJ/NY and larger interconnected global community interested in the topic of EcoArts and its potential during a time of environmental degradation and ecological crises.

The EcoArt Salon is hosted by Rutgers University-Newark Paul Robeson Galleries and sponsored by the Clement A. Price Institute on Ethnicity, Culture, and the Modern Experience and the Rutgers University-Newark's Department of Arts, Culture and Media.

About the Artists:

As an artist and ocean engineer, Jane Chang Mi assesses the post-colonial ocean environment through interdisciplinary research. She examines the narratives associated with the underwater landscape considering the past, present, and future. Mi most often focuses on the occupation and militarization of the Pacific Ocean by the United States. This interest emerges from her background as an ocean engineer, a field that is inextricably linked to the American military complex.

In 2016, Mi was the inaugural artist in residence at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, researching the pre-contact history of Pearl Harbor. The project concluded as a part of the first Honolulu Biennial in 2017. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, most recently at Te Uru Waitakere and ST Paul Street Gallery in Aotearoa (New Zealand) in 2019. She has been a scientist at the Arctic Circle Program (2010), a recipient of the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts grant (2014), and a fellow at the East West Center at the University of Hawaii, Manoa (2012).

Mi is based in Honolulu and Los Angeles, where she is Assistant Professor of Media Studies at Scripps College. www.janecmi.com

Sean Connelly (b.1984), an artist-architect from O'ahu. He directs his work through an independent studio practice named After Oceanic Projects for Architecture, Landscape, Infrastructure, and Art (www.ao-projects.com). His combined work (2010 - 2020) strives to promote justice-advancing futures that address the dynamics of human geography today. Sean’s work theoretically is about advancing an architectural history and theory of urbanism from Hawai‘i. His built conceptual works have included sculpture and video works exhibited at venues such as ii Gallery, Honolulu Museum of Art, Foster Botanical Gardens, and Luggage Store Gallery. Sean’s most recent studio-driven works include Oahu 2450—the first 3D map of United States militarization on the Island of O‘ahu from 1887-Present; and Ala Wai Centennial Memorial Project—a social practice in architecture about the history and future of Waikiki, that runs from 2021-2027. Current client-driven projects include a 1600 acre landscape plan for Malama Loko Ea Foundation and the restoration of the historic fishpond Loko Ea, located in Hale‘iwa, Hawai‘i.

Images Left to Right: Sean Connelly, Africa Pacific Ocean Center Island. Jane Chang Mi, Mauna O Wakea, 2013; archival inkjet print; 11”x 17”.