Beth Johnston (she/hers)
artist, researcher, photographer, educator
Contact:
b. Kuna, Idaho
c. Boston + New Hampshire
c. Boston + New Hampshire
Contact:
Formal Bio:
With a background in science and psychology, Beth’s work looks at the multifaceted dimensions of the climate crisis, delving into its historical, political, material, social, and psychological roots. Her current research investigates photography’s role in the formation of cultural imaginaries around land, landscape, and the natural world at large; how we think about the land directly influences our perception and relationship to it.
Building off of this research, Beth’s artistic work is experimental in form—often employing non-traditional framing methods and interdisciplinary processes—in order to nourish non-dominant logics and to critically re-imagine the ways we relate to one another and the worlds we inhabit.
Beth received an MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design in 2022 with a self-designed concentration in NatureCulture studies and holds a BA in Psychology from Wake Forest University. She regularly participates in art-science collaborations and is currently a CASE (Colorado Art Science Environment) Fellow with the University of Colorado Boulder. She currently works between the high mountain desert of the Southwest and coastlands of the Northeast.
Beth Johnston (b. Kuna, Idaho) is an interdisciplinary and research-based artist exploring the connections between ecology, cultural imaginations, and ways of knowing.
With a background in science and psychology, Beth’s work looks at the multifaceted dimensions of the climate crisis, delving into its historical, political, material, social, and psychological roots. Her current research investigates photography’s role in the formation of cultural imaginaries around land, landscape, and the natural world at large; how we think about the land directly influences our perception and relationship to it.
Building off of this research, Beth’s artistic work is experimental in form—often employing non-traditional framing methods and interdisciplinary processes—in order to nourish non-dominant logics and to critically re-imagine the ways we relate to one another and the worlds we inhabit.
Beth received an MFA in Photography from Rhode Island School of Design in 2022 with a self-designed concentration in NatureCulture studies and holds a BA in Psychology from Wake Forest University. She regularly participates in art-science collaborations and is currently a CASE (Colorado Art Science Environment) Fellow with the University of Colorado Boulder. She currently works between the high mountain desert of the Southwest and coastlands of the Northeast.
Current Research Interests:Environmental Justice, Climate Science, Queer Ecology, Poetry,
and Place-based Pedagogies and Epistemologies
EDUCATION:
MFA, Photography, Rhode Island School of Design
BA, Psychology and Physical Sciences, Wake Forest University
FELLOWSHIPS:
CU Boulder CASE (Colorado Art Science Environment Fellowship), 2022-24
Center for Fine Art Photography Dennis Roussel Fellowship, 2023
MFA, Photography, Rhode Island School of Design
BA, Psychology and Physical Sciences, Wake Forest University
FELLOWSHIPS:
CU Boulder CASE (Colorado Art Science Environment Fellowship), 2022-24
Center for Fine Art Photography Dennis Roussel Fellowship, 2023
ARTIST TALKS / LECTURES:
Parsons School of Design
Pratt Institute
MassArt
University of Colorado Boulder
New Mexico School for the Arts
Adams State University
Colorado Creative Industries
Breck Create
Der Greif Magazine
Imagining America
Center for the Arts Crested Butte
BRDG Project Gallery
SITE Santa Fe
CURRENT / UPCOMING SHOWS + EVENTS:
2024:
Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change
Center of Southwest Studies
Fort Lewis College
Durango, CO
March 19, 2024 - February 14, 2025
Opening Reception 4.11.24
2025:
Adapting Our Work to a Changing Climate
Artist Panel
Society for Photographic Education Annual Conference
Reno, NV
March 9th, 2025
PAST:
2024
UnBound13!
Candela Gallery
Richmond, VA
July 5, 2024 - August 3, 2024
Hear/Say
Curated by Tya Anthony
Opening Reception June 14
Denver, CO
June 14, 2024 - July 14, 2024
SPE Women’s Film + Video Festival
Society for Photographic Education Annual Conference
St Louis, MO
March 21, 2024 - March 23, 2024
Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change
Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community (SEEC) Building
University of Colorado
Boulder , CO
January 18, 2024 - March 27, 2024
2023
Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change
Breck Create
Breckenridge, CO
December 9, 2023 - January 7, 2024
Little Creatures
Canyon Gallery
Boulder, CO
August 12, 2023 - September 30, 2023
Coloradans and Our Shared Environment in Times of Challenge and Change
Colorado State Capital Building
Denver, CO
May 19, 2023 - December 1, 2023
Experimental Film Forum
Hudson Theater
Los Angeles, CA
July 12, 2023
Experiments in Cinema
Guild Cinema
Albuquerque, NM
May 17, 2023
Fragments
Strata Gallery
Santa Fe, NM
January 9th, 2023 - February 15, 2023
2022
All Texts About Love
Curated by Anthony Elms
Microscope Gallery
New York, NY
July 28, 2022 - August 19, 2022
Adams State University
Rhode Island School of Design
Pingree School
Colorado Mountain College