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Mary Mattingly: Holding Water

A large boat with a garden and solar panels on top, floating on a river.

Lecture

Location

Abby and Howard Milstein Auditorium

Milstein Hall

Contact

Department of Art

(607) 255-6730

artdepartment@cornell.edu

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Abstract

Artist Mary Mattingly will discuss art-making as a vocation, with a focus on co-creating regenerative public art. She will also talk in depth about specific projects, including building the floating food forest, Swale, and the absurdity of bundling her possessions for performances.

Biography

A woman with long brown hair, wearing a gray suit jacket over a blue turtleneck sweater.

Mary Mattingly

Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores ecological relationships through sculptural ecosystems, performance, and research-based collaborations. Rooted in inquiry into ecology and interdependence, her work addresses issues around water, food systems, and climate adaptation. At the core of Mattingly’s practice is a belief in art as a form of investigation and a tool for imagining adaptive futures. Her installations often function both symbolically and practically: creating space for gathering, co-learning, and reflecting on systems of resource extraction and ecological resilience.

Mattingly is the spring 2026 Teiger Mentor in the Arts.

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