Carly Creley is a professional educator and Certified Naturalist from Los Angeles, California. She uses art to share her experiences in the natural world with others. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness Management, and masters degrees in Environmental Science and in Education. This combination gives her an intense interest in environmental justice, which is the focus of her current artistic work and scholarship.
In addition to her career teaching science, Carly leads an annual weeklong volunteer trip to Sequoia National Park where participants engage in writing, visual arts, and science activities with an emphasis on interactions between human communities and the environment. She has extensive experience creating community learning experiences, exhibits, lectures, and conversations in settings including classrooms, art facilities, online, and in the field.
Her work has been exhibited at Art Share L.A. in the downtown Los Angeles Arts District, the Fine Arts Gallery at California State University, Los Angeles, and throughout the state. Her art has been published in Spectrum, the Sand Canyon Review, and the East Jasmine Review. Her scientific research has been published in the Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences.
Imperial Geographies: How Pollution, Labor, and Border Policy Create the Modern Salton Sea and Imperial Valley has been presented at Imperial Valley Desert Museum and the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association Conference in Los Angeles, California. It will further be exhibited at L.A. Artcore, Steppling Gallery at San Diego State University-Imperial Valley, and Nervous Ghost Press’s Community Art Space.
She hopes that her work draws others to venture out on their own journeys to places that will become just as important to them as they are to her.
…
I want my work to bring people into the natural world. I try to capture the feeling of standing on the beach in Monterey – of feeling the breeze that flows through cypress as it makes its way to the crashing ocean waves, and the tingle of sunlight turning the Sierran peaks orange and pink in the freezing morning air– so that others can feel the tranquility of those moments as well. I want people to see the life that pikas bring to the Beartooth Summit, so high and cold that only they and the mountain goats, who lick salt from the frozen road, can survive. I hope that my work draws others to venture out on their own journeys, to places that will become just as important to them.
I have painted with acrylic for many years to capture the nuances of the landscape, but recently began experimenting with gouache and watercolor. I love how I can work with gouache in the field, to capture the changing day as the sun moves across the sky.
carlycreley@gmail.com
@carlycreley