Friday, Jul 17, 2026
Artist Talk: Mary Mattingly
About
The Harry S. Parker Ill Visiting Artist Program connects distinguished artists to the island. Mary Mattingly is a recent Guggenheim Fellow whose project, Swale, a floating food forest, drew more than 340,000 visitors to NYC's public piers. Mattingly's work transforms industrial materials into sculptural ecosystems that support food, water, and shelter. Bringing together environmental research, policy, and design, these projects imagine collective futures in a time of climate crisis.
Drinks, 5:30pm | Talk, 6pm
Artist
Bio
Mary Mattingly is an interdisciplinary artist who co-creates large-scale, participatory artworks that explore what collective futures might look like in a time of climate crisis. A 2016-2020 project, Swale, was a floating food forest on a barge in New York City. It offered free access to fruits and vegetables, challenging local laws that prohibit foraging on public land and reimagining how urban infrastructure can serve. Much of Mattingly’s work transforms industrial materials into sculptural ecosystems that support food, water, and shelter. Bringing together environmental research, policy, and design, these projects suggest more resilient, inclusive systems. Mattingly’s work has been exhibited widely, including at the Brooklyn Museum, the International Center of Photography, the Palais de Tokyo, Barbican in the UK, and the Havana Biennial. Her work is represented by Robert Mann Gallery, and she has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Harpo Foundation, and the Knight Foundation. At its core, her practice imagines ecosystems of care through temporary platforms she calls “proposals.”