International Caucus/UN Program Honor Roll
2019 Honoree
Krisanne Baker
Krisanne Baker is an ecological artist and educator focused on water advocacy, and the stewardship of all waters.
Baker views water as the lifeblood of the planet; coursing the globe, pulsing through our bodies. She makes and teaches water-conscious ocean art and ecology locally in Maine through her curriculum Gulf of Maine: Dare to Care, as well as internationally teaching educators ‘Water is Life’ through Malawian rainforest conservation. Her upcoming project will focus on student-based stewardship of the delicate balance of the Mesoamerican reef systems through collaboration with marine biologists and community members.
‘Ocean Breathing’ is a collaborative art and science project hosted by the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences on the coast of Maine (bigelow.org). Baker’s specific goal with this project was to bring the truth of science, the imagination of art, and the wonder and curiosity shared by each discipline together to promote community understanding and stewardship of our oceans. She was paired with Dr. Michael Lomas, Senior Scientist of the National Marine Laboratory for Algae and Biota within Bigelow (the largest living algae library in the world). Baker had been studying marine biology on her own for over ten years following an evening swim in a cove glowing with bioluminescent life. She developed the painting and glass series ‘Phytoplankton Dreaming’ based on her underwater and laboratory microscope observations through home research and at a formative teaching artist-in-residency with Shoals Marine Laboratories on Appledore Island.
Micro/Macro
During a six-week period, she studied over 100 living samples of phytoplankton, observing and drawing them, as well as discussing her findings and questions with Dr. Lomas. She then re-imagined the algae as an installation; greatly magnified versions (with some mutating from climate change and ocean acidification) so the public could become familiar with their vast array of forms, beauty, and critical importance to ours and all life on the planet. Baker likes to say, “As we come from the ocean, and are made of ocean, then our first breath truly belongs to the ocean.” Phytoplankton are the microscopic plants responsible for sustaining a planetary breathable atmosphere and maintaining the chemistry of the ocean. As well, they are the basis of the ocean food web. First breath, first food. As diatoms (a type of phytoplankton) have protective natural glass coverings, she chose to work in recycled glass to convey their glowing gem-like qualities and fleeting fragilities.
The two-story high suspended glass forms replicate the wonder of the greatest biomass migration twice daily (diel) on the planet. Visitors to the Bigelow facility have the opportunity to engage in ‘Find That Plankton’, a type of Where’s Waldo game, identifying the types of plankton while viewing the installation and gaining knowledge of our human connection to the ocean’s vastness and its microscopic life. Baker’s ocean awareness works are calls to educate and protect what gives us all life – the delicate balance of our blue green planet. As her heroine Dr. Sylvia Earle says, “No blue, no green. No ocean, no us.”
The ‘Water is Life’ project developed through the auspices of the non-profit Go! Malawi, a U.S. and Malawi based entity empowering the betterment of life through education. After a personal tour of the Ntchisi Rainforest with a forest ranger, Baker planned a forest excursion and lecture with the ranger for twelve K-12 area teachers, most of whom had never ventured up the mountain into the forest. Baker had the teachers draw the flora and fauna of the rainforest, and listen to stories of rainforest symbiosis. Water samples were taken and observed under a microscope provided by Baker, along with more drawings and discussions.
The educators gained an understanding of the systems of the rainforest, and how deforestation will further destroy their climate change-threatened mountain water system. The educators separated into teams to sketch out and paint three sixteen foot-long murals that depict their lives on the mountain and how they are deeply connected with the trees, water, and all creatures that share the land. These murals were then used to share and travel amongst schools as teaching tools using the ‘Water is Life’ curriculum for their students, and to underscore the need for increased forestry management and stewardship to protect their way of life.
The Mesoamerican Reef project is still in its proposal stage while Baker seeks funding. A little known fact is that the Mesoamerican Reef is the second largest reef system in the world; unknown to many compared to the popularity of the Great Barrier Reef and its fight against coral bleaching. Unfortunately, coral bleaching due to climate change is also happening on the Mesoamerican Reef, as well as the coral animals immune systems are compromised by temperature stress combined with succumbing to bacteria and viruses. Understanding that coral reefs are the underwater nurseries of the world comprising only about 1% of the ocean area, Baker feels is critical knowledge for the students and communities of the Yucatan peninsula. The health and economic welfare of these ocean communities correlate to the health of the communities and beings under the ocean’s surface. Her plan will target educating school children, and eventually family and community members. They will be introduced to a live experience snorkeling the reef, learning of the nearly one hundred species of native fish, and in particular, the hard and soft corals. Students will also benefit from the collaboration of making reef art with Baker and reef restoration science from a renowned marine biologist. The art pieces will form an installation at the town plaza and dockside, sharing reverence and promoting stewardship of the ocean and its inhabitants. Here eco tourism is gaining great strides benefiting the ocean reefs and communities; from whale sharks to coral reefs to the symbiotic phytoplankton that inhabit many coral animals, to humans and all land-based species. These areas require protection for the continued symbiosis between all creatures of the world. We all share the same breath, the same water, the same planet.
Links and videos:
Artist website: krisannebaker.com
Bigelow Residency video: Ocean Breathing
Women Eco Artist Dialogue: weadartists.org/artist/krisanne-baker
All photos copyright Krisanne Baker
Ocean Breathing Night and Day at Bigelow Laboratories MesoAmerican Reef Restoration Series
Baker views water as the lifeblood of the planet; coursing the globe, pulsing through our bodies. She makes and teaches water-conscious ocean art and ecology locally in Maine through her curriculum Gulf of Maine: Dare to Care, as well as internationally teaching educators ‘Water is Life’ through Malawian rainforest conservation. Her upcoming project will focus on student-based stewardship of the delicate balance of the Mesoamerican reef systems through collaboration with marine biologists and community members.
‘Ocean Breathing’ is a collaborative art and science project hosted by the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences on the coast of Maine (bigelow.org). Baker’s specific goal with this project was to bring the truth of science, the imagination of art, and the wonder and curiosity shared by each discipline together to promote community understanding and stewardship of our oceans. She was paired with Dr. Michael Lomas, Senior Scientist of the National Marine Laboratory for Algae and Biota within Bigelow (the largest living algae library in the world). Baker had been studying marine biology on her own for over ten years following an evening swim in a cove glowing with bioluminescent life. She developed the painting and glass series ‘Phytoplankton Dreaming’ based on her underwater and laboratory microscope observations through home research and at a formative teaching artist-in-residency with Shoals Marine Laboratories on Appledore Island.
Micro/Macro
During a six-week period, she studied over 100 living samples of phytoplankton, observing and drawing them, as well as discussing her findings and questions with Dr. Lomas. She then re-imagined the algae as an installation; greatly magnified versions (with some mutating from climate change and ocean acidification) so the public could become familiar with their vast array of forms, beauty, and critical importance to ours and all life on the planet. Baker likes to say, “As we come from the ocean, and are made of ocean, then our first breath truly belongs to the ocean.” Phytoplankton are the microscopic plants responsible for sustaining a planetary breathable atmosphere and maintaining the chemistry of the ocean. As well, they are the basis of the ocean food web. First breath, first food. As diatoms (a type of phytoplankton) have protective natural glass coverings, she chose to work in recycled glass to convey their glowing gem-like qualities and fleeting fragilities.
The two-story high suspended glass forms replicate the wonder of the greatest biomass migration twice daily (diel) on the planet. Visitors to the Bigelow facility have the opportunity to engage in ‘Find That Plankton’, a type of Where’s Waldo game, identifying the types of plankton while viewing the installation and gaining knowledge of our human connection to the ocean’s vastness and its microscopic life. Baker’s ocean awareness works are calls to educate and protect what gives us all life – the delicate balance of our blue green planet. As her heroine Dr. Sylvia Earle says, “No blue, no green. No ocean, no us.”
The ‘Water is Life’ project developed through the auspices of the non-profit Go! Malawi, a U.S. and Malawi based entity empowering the betterment of life through education. After a personal tour of the Ntchisi Rainforest with a forest ranger, Baker planned a forest excursion and lecture with the ranger for twelve K-12 area teachers, most of whom had never ventured up the mountain into the forest. Baker had the teachers draw the flora and fauna of the rainforest, and listen to stories of rainforest symbiosis. Water samples were taken and observed under a microscope provided by Baker, along with more drawings and discussions.
The educators gained an understanding of the systems of the rainforest, and how deforestation will further destroy their climate change-threatened mountain water system. The educators separated into teams to sketch out and paint three sixteen foot-long murals that depict their lives on the mountain and how they are deeply connected with the trees, water, and all creatures that share the land. These murals were then used to share and travel amongst schools as teaching tools using the ‘Water is Life’ curriculum for their students, and to underscore the need for increased forestry management and stewardship to protect their way of life.
The Mesoamerican Reef project is still in its proposal stage while Baker seeks funding. A little known fact is that the Mesoamerican Reef is the second largest reef system in the world; unknown to many compared to the popularity of the Great Barrier Reef and its fight against coral bleaching. Unfortunately, coral bleaching due to climate change is also happening on the Mesoamerican Reef, as well as the coral animals immune systems are compromised by temperature stress combined with succumbing to bacteria and viruses. Understanding that coral reefs are the underwater nurseries of the world comprising only about 1% of the ocean area, Baker feels is critical knowledge for the students and communities of the Yucatan peninsula. The health and economic welfare of these ocean communities correlate to the health of the communities and beings under the ocean’s surface. Her plan will target educating school children, and eventually family and community members. They will be introduced to a live experience snorkeling the reef, learning of the nearly one hundred species of native fish, and in particular, the hard and soft corals. Students will also benefit from the collaboration of making reef art with Baker and reef restoration science from a renowned marine biologist. The art pieces will form an installation at the town plaza and dockside, sharing reverence and promoting stewardship of the ocean and its inhabitants. Here eco tourism is gaining great strides benefiting the ocean reefs and communities; from whale sharks to coral reefs to the symbiotic phytoplankton that inhabit many coral animals, to humans and all land-based species. These areas require protection for the continued symbiosis between all creatures of the world. We all share the same breath, the same water, the same planet.
Links and videos:
Artist website: krisannebaker.com
Bigelow Residency video: Ocean Breathing
Women Eco Artist Dialogue: weadartists.org/artist/krisanne-baker
All photos copyright Krisanne Baker
Ocean Breathing Night and Day at Bigelow Laboratories MesoAmerican Reef Restoration Series
