A Whale of a Time – a Science/Art Festival
Between March 8th-10th, SUNY Geneseo will welcome a 65-foot inflatable sperm whale to the ISC Focal Point (next to College Green). This environmental art and action kinetic sculpture by the artist Billie Lynn will form the backdrop for a series of events, interactions, and performances that allow us to think about human (dis)connections with the ecosystems that help us survive and thrive. Join us to celebrate the ways art and science can combine to explore the relationship between climate change and the individual – our campus “Ideas That Matter” theme for 2025-2026 – and help us take action on behalf of the planet we share.
To suggest an event, contact the organizers: Esther Rogers Baker (Music), Mackenzie Gerringer (Biology), and Lytton Smith (English & Creative Writing)
Schedule
Please stop by the whale at any point to take it in, engage with our docents, listen to soundscapes, converse with fellow humans, and complete your own Climate Action Venn Diagram using a template from Ayana Elizabeth Johnson’s What if We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, the campus Common Read for the year.
Please keep checking back for added events and updated details. Additional planned events include:
- a dance performance
- short film screenings
- musical performances
The rain location for the whale is the Campus Ballroom on Sunday 8th and Tuesday 10th March. In the event of inclement weather, events will take place even if we cannot inflate the whale!
Sunday March 8th
12-2pm Expedition, drop in hands-on workshop with NY State Puppet Festival (location TBA)
We’re sailing together toward an unknown future. One filled with adventure, uncertainty, and the need for resilience in the face of climate change. But with this comes the anxieties we all carry about the unknown.
In this two-hour interactive workshop (stop by for as long or short as you want!) with puppeteers Josh Rice & Emma Wiseman, participants are invited to help build the good ship Expedition and to write down on piece of paper worries or burdens they carry about our unknown climate futures, in conversation with Billie Lynn’s whale sculpture installed on SUNY Geneseo’s campus.
Participants will craft that paper into a tiny puppet sailor. These sailors will form the crew of the Expedition, on which they will bravely sail together, collectively toward the unknown, charting their own climate future – with their maiden voice planned for Silver Lake, NY during the biannual NY State Puppet Festival in Perry, June 2026.
1-2pm Generative Writing Workshop – Jenna Lê (location TBA)
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4-5pm Poetry Reading – Jenna Lê (location TBA)
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7pm Sunset Cello Performance – Esther Rogers Baker – ISC Focal Point (next to College Green)
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Evening Southside Boys A Capella Performance – ISC Focal Point (next to College Green)
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Monday March 9th
Early afternoon Whale Vocalizations & Environmental Listening Lessons – Dr. Kristi Hannam
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4-5pm Deep Sea Biology talk – the Gerringer lab (location TBA)
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7pm Sunset Cello Performance – Esther Rogers Baker – ISC Focal Point (next to College Green)
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Tuesday March 10th
11.30am-12pm Fiction Reading – Emrys Donaldson – ISC Focal Point (next to College Green)
Listen to Emrys Donaldson read his story “We are the 300-year-old big bois of the sea and we did not come to play,” from his forthcoming collection of stories The Iridescents
“Anatomy of a Wave,” composed and performed by Glenn McClure
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2pm Forest Meditation – Chip Matthews – ISC Focal Point (next to College Green)
Take a walk in the woods and reduce stress, improve attention, boost your immunity and lift your mood! Inspired by the Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ (Shinrin Yoku), Forest Therapy guide and Meditation Instructor Chip Matthews invites participants to breathe deep, slow down and see what inner peace you might find in the great outdoors – and learn that connecting with nature is a reciprocal practice.
7pm Sunset Cello Performance – Esther Rogers Baker – ISC Focal Point (next to College Green)
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