How can art be used to tell a story and spread awareness? What are the ways art can be utilized to share accounts of people’s lives and elevate those lesser-known, powerful stories?

UW graduate student Caitlin Mary Margarett utilizes her art to raise awareness of climate change by telling these stories.

Caitlin Mary Margarett, or CMM, is a first-year MFA student in the School of Education’s Art Department, focusing on 4D video and performance art. She recently performed her latest performance art piece titled, “for the love of god,” at Miami Art Week.

In her work, CMM often focuses on the relationship between memory and space. “My work deals a lot with place and memory,” CMM said, “and how our sense of memory and connection to place is often skewed by ideas that we have given to that place in a contemporary way.”

“For the love of god,” comes from CMM’s personal connection to her home state of Iowa, and is a response to the 2020 derecho that swept through and devastated much of Iowa.  A derecho is a long-lasting and widespread line of severe storms, associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.

“It was basically a land hurricane [but] comes through much stronger and has higher wind,” CMM said. “We lost 7 million trees across the state… and 93% of the homes in the city I was living in had moderate to severe damage. That happened within a 3 hour period of time.”

CMM also spoke about her experience presenting her piece during Miami Art Week.