Artist in Residence

Jessica Bonifas is a Seattle based filmmaker, photographer, and dedicated environmentalist. Her practice includes shooting on film with her beloved Super 8, hand painting film, and using her 35mm photo camera to create avant-garde art. Working harmoniously with the land, she uses natural resources and involves themes of nature in much ofher work to convey the connection between humans and the environment.

Learn more at https://jessicabonifas.com/

Margie and her granddaughter Willa came to Mount St. Helens from the prairies of Minnesota. Willa is an artist who draws, paints, and works with clay. She will led the painting portion of their "Leapin' Lupines!" Workshop. Margie is a writer/photographer who loves to garden, and shared how lupines shaped the slopes of Mount St. Helens by rebuilding the soil after the 1980 volcanic eruption. Lupine is her favorite flower.

Natalie was first introduced to haiku in college in the 1970’s, and immediately felt a connection with this simple way ofexpressing a deep and immediate experience of nature. In the last few years, her writing has flowed from her many ramblings and trips around the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Writing gives Natalie great joy, and she feels that it’s a gift. She finds equal joy sharing haiku with others, and passing that gift on. They, like her, find that this simple form of poetry helps them go deeper into their experiences of the natural world. She genuinely believes that anyone can write haiku!

Ada Beale is a musician interested in exploring sonic landscapes by integrating electronic synthesis, contemporary piano, sampling and field recordings to immerse the listener in a moment in time and space. Their current music project explores the geological history of Mt. St. Helens through its eruption and its effects on not just the landscape and wildlife, but the people of the Pacific Northwest. With their interest in sound design, environmentalism, and spacial immersion, their concept album will transport the listener to Mt. St. Helens to explore the history of the volcano and its impact on our region.

Kellie's astral photography inspires awe and captures the etherial nature of the world around us.

Learn more at www.kellieodonnell.com.

As a scientist, I ask questions. I observe. I learn. I teach. As an artist, I do the same. With an Artist Residency at Mount St. Helens this summer, I will finally have the opportunity to blend my two contrasting worlds as a scientist and an artist, to create art that informs and educates and breaks down the barrier between art and science that most of the general public fears. To me, the path to breaking that barrier is to lead with curiosity. My paintings tell a story of my connection to science and nature, and through my art I establish my purpose. The next step in my art journey is to transform my art into educational material that makes the audience engaged in learning without it being scary and unapproachable. With St. Helens’ rich, dynamic ecosystem and MSHI’s commitment to science and education, I plan to learn from the land and share my unique perspective with visitors, students and other educators at MSHI through pages in a scientific sketchbook and a large sketchbook-style illustration with a series of vignettes that teach about the resiliency of the landscape of Mount St. Helens.

Learn more and see examples of her incredible sketchbooks at https://www.arinraeart.com/.

Creating art in the powerful and ever-evolving landscape of Mount St. Helens is a deep honor and a natural extension of Susan's life’s work. As an Artist, Empowerment Coach, Educator, Outdoor Adventurer, Community Builder, and Rites of Passage Guide, her work is rooted in transformation, connection, and presence. Her mission is to empower and inspire people to connect with the wisdom of nature—both within themselves and in the living world around them. This mountain offers profound teachings in resilience, renewal, and beauty. The Mount St. Helens Science and Learning Center also shares a similar mission- to connect people with nature through science, the arts, and adventure recreation, making this a perfect fit!

Learn more at Susan's website, www.susanelizabethatthetreehouseartstudio.com

Jackie Roberti (she/her) is a writer and illustrator based in Boston, MA. She is self-studied, mainly through bringing her sketchbook and paints everywhere she goes. During her residency she created an illustrated field guide of the Mount St. Helens base camp area, aiming to teach about the area's flora and fauna from a whimsical, artistic perspective.