Conversation with CEAM Artist-in-Residence Dr. Brandon Ballengée + Dr. Benjamin Atkinson

Flagler College welcomes interdisciplinary artist, biologist, environmental researcher, and educator Dr. Brandon Ballengée as the Crisp-Ellert Art Museum’s (CEAM) Artist-in-Residence from Sept. 7-19. Dr. Ballengée will sit down for a conversation with Dr. Benjamin Atkinson, Associate Professor of Natural Sciences at Flagler College, on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m. at Ringhaver Student Center’s Virginia Room, 50 Sevilla Street in downtown St. Augustine.

Dr. Ballengée’s work bridges ecology, evolutionary biology, and conservation. His artwork and scientific research are symbiotic, focusing on amphibians and fishes, particularly the long-term impacts of environmental disruptions, such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, on marine biodiversity. During his residency, Dr. Ballengée will participate in campus activities, working with students, staff, and faculty through class visits, and will hold a public conversation with Dr. Atkinson, whose research focuses on the conservation ecology of turtles and tortoises, to discuss how their research aligns and the importance of conservation and adaptation. Drawing on resources within Flagler College’s Natural Sciences department, Dr. Ballengée will create a new body of work focused on the loss of turtles and tortoises, the most endangered group of vertebrates on earth, with more than half of the species threatened with extinction.

Dr. Ballengée’s artwork has been exhibited widely, including his mid-career retrospective at the University of Wyoming Art Museum; Galveston Art Center; Breathe: Toward Climate and Social Justice at the Hammer Museum, UCLA, in conjunction with PST Art: Art and Science Collide; and Acadiana Center for the Arts in Louisiana. The artist has received numerous awards and fellowships, including a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, Creative Capital, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Dr. Ballengée holds a Ph.D. in Transdisciplinary Art and Biology from the University of Plymouth, England, in association with the Zurich University of the Arts. He is an Adjunct Faculty member in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University, a visiting artist-scientist in the Department of Biology, and a Fellow of the EcoSphere Group at the University of Antwerp in collaboration with The Royal Academy of Fine Arts. He co-founded Atelier de la Nature, a STEAM education center and nature reserve in Arnaudville, Louisiana.

The CEAM Artist Residency, in collaboration with Flagler College’s Department of Visual Arts, is a regular program of artists-in-residence that engages with themes of place-making while collaborating with some aspect of St. Augustine’s local community, the city’s significant and varied roles in American history, or its rich natural environment. A goal of the residency is to foster diverse perspectives on these aspects of our local community. Artists and scholars in a range of fields are invited to integrate and collaborate across fine art and broader fields of inquiry, such as curatorial practice, performing arts, and creative writing.

ABOUT CRISP-ELLERT ART MUSEUM: CEAM programming is supported through grants from the Dr. JoAnn Crisp-Ellert Fund at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, and the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council administered through the St. Johns Cultural Council. We would like to give special thanks to Flagler College’s Lifelong Learning Institute as well as Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Additional support is provided by VW of St. Augustine, VyStar Credit Union, and AC Hotel St. Augustine.