Artist Talk: On Biodiversity and Beta Diversity

The annual Max Beckmann Distinguished Visitor lecture will be presented by artist Haley Mellin, who is known for her on-site, observation-based paintings that focus on dialogues of biodiversity, environmental justice, and climate-pragmatism. As a part of her artistic practice, Mellin focuses on nature conservation to advocate for environmental justice and biodiversity. She founded the nonprofit Art to Acres to support land conservation in collaboration with art communities; to date, the initiative has supported a global range of new locally-led permanent protected areas. In her studio work, Mellin has made changes to materials and exhibition planning based on climatological research and emissions metrics, including shifting from oil paint to gouache, which does not require solvents; reusing surfaces from storage; hand-making paints to opt out of non-recyclable tubes; painting smaller canvases for lighter shipments, recycled packaging and boxes, and offering vegetarian/vegan opening-dinners.