Dive into the mesmerizing world of marine science and metal artistry with Athens-based artist Barbara Mann’s latest exhibition, “Forging Connections: Metal Art Inspired by the Marine Carbon Cycle,” on display at the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island from Aug. 23 – Oct. 16, 2023.
Mann has been working with metal and jewelry for more than 45 years. Her fascination with marine processes, like the carbon cycle, and the role of marine life within these processes is serving as the inspiration for her latest collection funded by UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant’s Artists, Writers and Scholars program. The program supports projects designed to produce professional-quality art and literature that increases awareness of Georgia’s marine environments, improves understanding of Georgia’s coastal communities, and helps document history, culture, or heritage of Georgia’s coast.
Artist Barbara Mann gives a talk about her work at a recent Evening @ Skidaway event.
As part of her project, Mann created several pieces representing the plankton community, the marine carbon cycle and oyster growth and development, including four wall pieces, two necklaces, and two vases made of copper, brass, silver, iron and other materials.
Mann’s collection draws inspiration from the plankton research conducted by UGA Skidaway Institute of Oceanography faculty, as well as oyster research conducted at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant’s UGA Shellfish Research Lab.
View the exhibition when you visit the UGA Aquarium, which is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. More information is available at gacoast.uga.edu/aquarium.
A selection of Mann’s pieces on display at the UGA Marine Education Center and Aquarium.