Creativity can be a powerful tool for spreading eco-awareness. As the climate crisis worsens, today’s guest, sustainable sculptor and NOT REAL ART grant winner Danielle O’Malley, joins us to discuss the intersection of art and environmental awareness and how communities can work together to stem the rising tide.
Growing up in rural Montana, Danielle learned to garden, preserve food, and care for livestock, which heightened her sensitivity to local environments and the increasingly hazardous climate. Still based in Montana, she now creates large-scale, site-specific sculptural installations that explore the ecological impact of industrialization with a combination of upcycled materials and industrial surplus. Throughout the episode, Danielle shares insights into her creative process, which ebbs and flows with the season.
Our conversation also explores the complexities of being an artist in a conservative state like Montana, where the creative community is supportive but underfunded. Danielle reflects on the challenges and opportunities that arise from living and working in a rural setting, emphasizing how mentorship and community support can empower emerging artists to embrace their creativity without the constraints of societal expectations. Danielle’s philosophy on resource sharing and grassroots networking manifests in projects like Montana Clay, a gathering designed to foster connections between ceramic artists who live and work in “Big Sky Country.”
Danielle’s story invites listeners to reconsider the role of artists in society and the vital importance of nurturing creative voices that resonate with the existential dilemma of our time.
Quotes From This Episode
“I always knew that I had like a passion for nature and the wonders within the natural world. I’m really driven by a lot of curiosity.” — Danielle O’Malley [0:13:36]
“The more that we study the environment, the more we're finding out how much it supports us. If we go away, the natural world's going to come back in full force. Everything's going to totally be fine.” — Danielle O’Malley [0:15:54]
“We have all this tech stuff and the intrusiveness of AI in our lives, too, and that's kind of being forced upon us. We're not really being given much choice on it. You Google search now, and it's like AI says this and AI says that.” — Danielle O’Malley [0:42:37]
“Even though I always knew I wanted to be an artist, there was an aversion to it because everyone was like, ‘You can't do that. You won't make it. Artists are only ever starving. That's not a real career.’” — Danielle O’Malley [0:45:24]
“Art is a human instinct, kind of like the foundation of human existence, like the form of expression, whether that's cave paintings or sign language or dance or whatever; art is just fundamentally such a human thing to want to engage.” — Danielle O’Malley [0:51:59]
About Danielle O’Malley
Danielle O’Malley is a multimedia large-scale site-specific installation and ceramic artist residing in Helena, Montana. O’Malley received their MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. Her work is rooted in an environmental consciousness that derives from their concern for the earth’s rapidly declining health. In addition to an active studio practice, O’Malley teaches, exhibits nationally, and serves their community as executive director for the Art Mobile of Montana and Director for Montana Clay.
Most recently, O’Malley was interviewed on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler podcast and chosen for publication by Ceramics Monthly, The Surface Design Association Quarterly Journal, The NCECA Annual Journal, and The Studio Potter Journal. She has been a recipient of multiple local, state, and national grants and is an American Craft Council Emerging Artist finalist. O’Malley has been a demonstrating and exhibiting artist at NCECA for the past two years. Their work is in permanent collections at the Northwest Art Gallery, the Taoxichuan Art Center, and numerous private collections.
