By Alex Burke
The University of Maryland Department of Environmental Science and Technology celebrated Earth Day during its “Intersecting the Environment and Art” presentation at the Animal Sciences and Agricultural Engineering Building on Tuesday.
The event brought together professors, artists and museum professionals to explore the often-overlooked relationship between environmental responsibility and artistic and institutional practices.
Artwork and behind-the-scenes practices from the Baltimore Museum of Art were featured, highlighting how environmental consciousness is shaping the museum world, from shipping logistics and material reuse to carbon offsets and sustainable exhibition design.
Brittany Luberda, the Anne Stone Associate Curator of Decorative Arts at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Caitlin Perry-Vogelhut, the museum’s Director of Registration, opened the event with an inside look at the environmental impacts of art handling, shipping and exhibition planning.
They discussed the museum’s efforts to reduce waste and improve sustainability, from reusing gallery walls and exhibition cases to investing in high-end reusable crates that reduce the need for disposable packaging and can be shared between institutions.
“One of the latest things that we have focused on this year is being more environmentally friendly,” Perry-Vogelhut said. “How can we reuse and repurpose materials as much as possible?”
Luberda shifted the focus to the artwork and how curatorial decisions can reflect environmental responsibility and amplify marginalized voices. She walked attendees through several pieces that were recently exhibited at the Baltimore Museum of Art, describing how artists and curators are increasingly considering materials, narratives, and environmental context.
One of the standout examples was the exhibition “Black Earth Rising”, which Luberda helped organize and install. The show centered on works by black, indigenous and other people of color that explore the intersection of climate change and social justice. More specifically, these pieces highlight how environmental degradation disproportionately impacts marginalized communities.
From sculptures made with reclaimed materials to installations invoking histories of land exploitation, the exhibition was not only a creative statement but also a curatorial response to the museum’s role in promoting equity and sustainability.
“I would describe this year as a wake-up call and both a call to action internally at the Baltimore Museum of Art to think about our processes as a civil space with responsibilities to our community and also to the artwork that we hold,” Luberda said.
The second half of the event featured a keynote presentation by artist and printmaker Heather McMordie and Ed Landa, an adjunct professor of environmental science and technology.
Their interdisciplinary project, “Ditchin’”, explores the ecological and social history of mosquito control, focusing on the creation of mosquito ditches in salt marshes and how this history intersects with current discussions on environmental health, land use, and climate change.
Landa, a soil scientist, discovered historical maps and photos of these ditches in the Delaware Public Archives. He became fascinated by how this effort to fight disease ultimately changed entire ecosystems.
In hopes of sharing this story with a larger audience, Landa reached out to McMordie, whose artwork often centers around the environment and soil. They began working together, combining their skills in science and art.
“I had the pleasure of going out into the field and following soil scientists, ornithologists and restoration ecologists to learn about how they did field research,” McMordie said.
She drew from those experiences to create artworks that engage viewers in the science of salt marsh ecologies, especially in soil and restoration science.
McMordie and Landa spent over two years conducting research, visiting field sites, studying old documents and creating artwork inspired by their findings.
Their goal was to help people understand how these mosquito ditches changed the land and to connect that history with today’s environmental challenges.
“We just went right to work, really making art, getting our hands dirty, immersing ourselves as much as we could into the ecosystem,” McMordie said. “After two years of working together periodically, we ultimately settled on creating textiles all printed on mosquito netting, repurposed mosquito netting, and designed them with patterns that all drew from the visual material that we had been looking at in our research.”
The Department of Environmental Science and Technology remains committed to sustainability in both its academic work and community events. By partnering with artists, curators and scientists, the department hopes to spark conversations about environmental responsibility and inspire creative solutions for a better future.
Featured Image: Paintings at the Earth Day event on Tuesday. Photo by Anika Stikeleather.