First Friday art goers last week who stumbled upon a show in the basement of the Homer Council on the Arts got a rare and transient glimpse at a creative project that uses art to better understand issues like sea level change and coastal erosion.
The exhibit by Kate Lochridge, a Bowling Green State University, Ohio, fourth-year student, came about after her internship this summer as a National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration Ernest S. Hollings Scholar and Artist in Residence. Now back in Ohio with her paintings, Lochridge’s show went up for just one night. For those who missed the pop-up show, on Aug. 24, from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Alaska time, Lochridge presents a webinar on her internship, with photographs of her paintings, sketches and installations.
Lochridge came to Alaska — her first visit, but she said she knows it won’t be her last — after applying for and winning the two-year Hollings scholarship in her second year of college. Hollings scholars do an internship between their junior and senior years, and go to an online portal to find paid internships. NOAA scientists in turn submit project proposals for interns. A studio art and marine biology co-major, Lochridge found a project for an artist in residence by NOAA Regional Geodetic Advisor Nicole Kinsman of Anchorage. She emailed Kinsman, told her about her background, and got the internship.