A new window into marine conservation research

By Janette Neuwahl Tannen [email protected] 04-29-2026

Juana Meneses has often found beauty in the environment around her.

Whether in her youth in Colombia, while living in Los Angeles for a decade, or teaching and then working in Miami-her home for the past 14 years-Meneses has connected to the people and the natural environment in these communities and used it in her art.

Meneses is now finding inspiration at the University of Miami as the first Ocean Art x Science artist-in-residence with the Robert K. Johnson Center for Marine Conservation and the Department of Art and Art History. As part of her three-month residency, Meneses is spending time in labs at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, and is using a studio at the College of Arts and Sciences' Department of Art and Art History, while also holding workshops on the Coral Gables Campus and the Marine Campus for students and faculty and staff members.

"Artists and scientists share a fascination with the ocean but rarely work together. We think this is a missed opportunity to learn from one another and leverage our unique skill sets to explore marine conservation in a more creative and socially engaged way," said Rebecca Gruby, the Robert K. Johnson Endowed Professor of Marine Conservation in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and director of the Johnson Center. "We launched this new residency program to foster innovative collaborations between scientists and artists that can really push the boundaries of how we understand, experience, and communicate about marine conservation."

During her time at the University, Meneses is working to create two artists' books-one about the history of the Rosenstiel School and another about locals' emotional connections to Biscayne Bay. She will exhibit this work next fall at the new Art Gallery @ The Chapel on the Coral Gables Campus, said Nathan Timpano, professor and chair in the Department of Art and Art History.

Meneses is a seasoned artist whose work has been shown at galleries and in exhibitions in the United States, Spain, and Colombia. Her art explores themes of personal identity, our relationship to place, and the natural environment through painting, printmaking, and artists' books. She is an Oolite Arts alum, and her work recently adorned the windows of Walgreens along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, and she also published several editioned artists' books, including an artwork about Alligator Alley titled "Passing Through: Alligator Alley, the Everglades Parkway." Meneses is also an art educator. She has taught at the high school and college level and serves as associate director of education at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach.

Meneses has done nature journaling and botanical illustrations since 2020, after she honed her craft at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

She is using those skills this semester to capture the detail of corals and sharks at the Rosenstiel School. Meneses has gone shark tagging with Catherine Macdonald, an associate professor of marine biology and ecology and director of the Shark Research and Conservation Program. She is also learning firsthand about Rescue a Reef, an outreach program of associate professor Diego Lirman's Benthic Ecology and Coral Restoration Lab, where she spends time sketching each week. Meneses said she is grateful for the chance to see this research in action.

"I look for opportunities like this to step out of my discipline," she said. "I love making art, but the power of it is when I step out of my discipline and connect with others. I don't have knowledge of all the science happening at Rosenstiel. I can take it in and use my skill as an artist to put it in these books and create art for others to connect with this work."

She is also sharing her insight into how art overlaps with marine science through workshops. At a recent session, Meneses asked participants to consider their favorite memories of the ocean. She then asked all the participants to use photos from the digital archives of the Rosenstiel School, magazines, linoleum stamps she made, and different textured materials to create a collage that conveyed this memory.

Timpano and some of his students joined the workshop and enjoyed the chance to explore how memories inspire art. He said the artist-in-residency program offers his graduate students feedback and interaction with a working artist but also celebrates local art. This was the first residency through the Johnson Center, but Gruby, Timpano, and Lirman designed the program together and hope to host another local artist next year.

"We are really looking to celebrate and enhance the talent we have here in Miami," Timpano said. "We want to build community connections that can last beyond the academic term or the residency."

While this semester was her first brush with marine science research, Meneses hopes that through her artwork, she can create bridges for the public to access all the exciting research taking place at the Rosenstiel School.

"It's such a treat for me to be there at the Rosenstiel School, and I am connecting in such a deep way with what is happening there every week, so I hope I can help others connect as well," she said.

To learn more about the Ocean Art x Science Residency program, contact Rebecca Gruby.