Mary Mattingly: The Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture
Release date: Dec. 6, 2025
Artist Mary Mattingly delivered the Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture in Art and Art History on Oct. 27, 2025. She discussed art-making as vocation, with a focus on co-creating regenerative public art. She provided an in-depth look at specific projects, including building the floating food forest Swale and the absurdity of bundling her possessions for performances.
Mattingly’s work is featured in the MOCRA exhibition, To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home.
The Kristen Peterson Distinguished Lecture in Art and Art History is presented by the art history program of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Saint Louis University with support from the Peterson Lecture Fund. The Regional Arts Commission provided additional financial support.
Watch the lecture here.
Related Exhibitions
To See This Place: Awakening to Our Common Home
Credits
Producer: David Brinker
Videography and editing: Matt Peterson
Featured Presenter
Mary Mattingly (b. 1978) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores ecological relationships through sculptural ecosystems, performative installations, and research-based collaborations. Rooted in a deep inquiry into urban ecology and interdependence, her work addresses urgent 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.