BIO
Collaborative team and married partners, Wendy DesChene (Canada) and Jeff Schmuki (USA) began practicing as PlantBot Genetics in 2008. Each had extensive experience and awards as solo artists and both were raised with strong connections to the land around them. Wendy is part indigenous people of Canada and her father built an off grid cabin in the deep forest of Ontario where the family has spent several months every year since she was a toddler. Jeff was born in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona, an environment of extremes that nurtured a unique relationship to the fragile landscape and a respect of limited natural resources.
PlantBot Genetics create installations, interventions, and collaborations that combine activism, research, and social space in order to foster discussion and generate action in the area of ecological awareness. By linking environmental issues to a diverse array of creative operations and tactics, DesChene + Schmuki extend the “knowledge of the moment”, demonstrates the fragile connection between the natural world and personal action, and offers simple, positive changes that can be enacted to increase sustainability -- an activity that can be replicated long after the artists have moved on.
PlantBot Genetics has exhibited and/or completed projects at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, The Pulitzer Foundation for Art in St Loius, the Goethe Institute of Cairo, Egypt, and the Bach Modern in Austria. In 2010, a significant contribution to their body of work was produced at the American Academy in Rome as visiting artists. Recent exhibitions include Foodture at the Elaine L Jacob Gallery of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and PlantBot Genetics: a Critical Contact Exhibition Series at the Cafritz Foundation Arts Center in Takoma Park, Maryland, and artist lectures and studio visits at Long Island University in Brookville, New York. Public projects while artists in residence at The Hafnarborg Art Center and Museum in Iceland and the McColl Center for the Arts in Charlotte, North Carolina has gained invitations to the Landscape Laboratory at Buitenwerkplaats in the Netherlands, the KulttuuriKauppila Art Center in Il, Finland as well as the Studio's of Key West Florida.
DesChene + Schmuki each have active solo practices http://www.wendydeschene.ca and www.jeffschmuki.com/.
Email us at jschmuki(at)gmail.com
PlantBot Genetics CV
Education
DesChene M.F.A, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
B.F.A., Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Schmuki M.F.A., New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, New York
B.F.A., Studio Art, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, cum laude
Selected Exhibitions
Solo
2021 TBA. Fielding Wright Art Gallery, Delta State University. Cleveland, Mississippi
TBA. University of Illinois Springfield Illinois. (Engaged Citizenship Common Experience Speaker Award)
2020 Biophilia. Eleanor D. Wilson Museum of Art at Hollins University. Roanoke Virginia.
Art + Science: Mothology in the Age of Social Distancing. Richard F. Brush Gallery at St, Lawrence University. Canton, New York.
2019 bot.tanical. Memorial Union Gallery, North Dakota State University. Fargo, North Dakota
2018 Vέα Oικολογία (New Ecology). Lakkos Art Center, Heraklion, Greece
PlantBot 2.0. McMaster Gallery, University of South Carolina. Columbia, South Carolina
Fresh Off The Farm. Field and Fork Farm Pop-Up. University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
2017 Cross Pollinate, Virginia Wesleyan University, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Adaptation, Martha Gault Gallery, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Mothluck, First City Art Center, Pensacola, Florida
2016 The Moth Project, Augustana Teaching Museum of Art, Rock Island, Ilinios
PlantBot. Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee
Moth, Entomica, Sault Ste Marie, ONT, Canada
2015 Mothology, St. Norbert College, De Pere, Wisconsin
floraBotanica, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama
PlantBot ArtLab, Seed Space, Nashville, Tennesee
2014 Foodture. Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University. Detroit, Michigan
The Moth Project, De Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam
Artist Respond, Oulu Museum Of Art (Taidemuseo), Finland
Inset Land. "Critical Content", Exhibition Series. Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at Montgomery College. Silver Spring, Maryland
PlantBot Genetics. 621 Gallery, Tallahassee, Florida
2013 PlantBot Genetics: "Monsantra". Studios At Key West, Key West, Florida
Plantronics, Durham Arts Council, Durham, North Carolina
2012 Monsantra. The New Gallery, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
PlantBot Genetics, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas
2011 The Green Shadow. McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
Two Person
2014 Ecology Revisioned.Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse. Prescott, Arizona
Group
2021 TBA: Food Justice: Growing a Healthier Community Through Art. Contemporary Craft. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TBA: Lost in the Weeds: Nature and Climate Change. Athens Institute of Contemporary Art. Athens, Georgia.
2020 Grey / Gray (Matters). Divisible Projects. Dayton, Ohio.
Ostraka. ARTexchange at CAA. Hoken Gallery. Columbia College, Chicago, Illinois
Daily Trumpet. Invitational Instagram Exhibition. New York, New York.
Lift Off Film Sessions. Shorts Programme 2, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England
Contaminated. The Institute for Aesthetic Advocacy and Institute for Digital Humanities. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Quarantine Zine. Issue 2: Alone and Together. Newburgh, New York.
ArtWork(ers) United. University of North Florida. Curator Jenny Hager and the Creatives. Jacksonville, Florida
Home as Situation. Bolivair Art Gallery, University of Kentucky. Lexington, Kentucky.
2019 Larroque Arts Festival (LAF) “Surface”, Larroque Occitanie, France
Lanzarote Arts Festival. Canary Islands, Spain
Exposicion Artistas Internacionales. Espacio Little, Seville, Spain
Ferment. Concurrent exhibition: NCECA. Minneapolis College Whitney, Fine Arts Center. Minneapolis, Minnesota
Collective Inaction. Memorial Union Gallery, North Dakota State University. Fargo, North Dakota
Ferment, Concurrent exhibition during NCECA, Minneapolis College, Whitney Fine Arts Center. Minneapolis, Minnesota
2018 When The Winters Were Still Really Cold (The Rhine). Useable Space. Milwaukee, Wisconsin
GardenBot. ArtFields, Lake City South Carolina
A Northward Migration (contributors). Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, Richmond, Virginia
Hambidge Art Gala. Design District, Atlanta, Georgia
2017 Pollinate. HUBweek, City Hall Plaza. Sponsored by Harvard, MIT, Boston, Globe. Boston, Massachusetts
Crossing Boundaries: Art and the Future of Energy. Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, Florida
STEAM 2017, University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
2016 Insecta. Haber Space at Central Booking, New York, New York
Impending Future. Lycoming College Art Gallery. Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Manchester: RVA Street Art Festival. Southern States Silos, Richmond, Virginia
Methodology, East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
Digital Culture, CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea
The Great ARTDoors Festival, Hambidge, Rapun Gap, Georgia
Re-Botica - ArtPrize 8, Fed Galleries, Kendell College of Art and Design, Grand Rapids, Michigan
2015 The Weight of the World: A Contemporary Art Exhibition of Affect and Reason - ASU Institute for Humanities Research (IHR). Tempe, Arizona
Sustainability Solutions Festival, City of Phoenix. Phoenix, Arizona
ESPACIO ENTER: International Festival of Creativity, Innovation, and Digital Culture. TEA, Tenerife Espacio de las Artes. Tenerife, Canary Island
Balance-Unbalance 2015: An International Conference on Water, Climate, and Place - ASU Galleries. Tempe, Arizona
Embodied Place:Observations and Notations. Sierra Nevada College, Incline Villiage, Nevada
Maize y Mas, Legion Art Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2014 Marfa Dialougues/St Loius. The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts, PXSTL. St. Louis Missouri
Art in Odd Places (AiOP): The Artifacts. Colonel's Row, Governors Island, New York, New York
Sustainability, Diane Kidd Gallery at Tiffin University, Tiffin, Ohio
Hunter/Gatherer, Truman State University Art Gallery, Kirksville, Missouri
Mediated Realities, Freedman Gallery at Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania
Entomological. Roy C. Moore Art Gallery. University of North Georgia at Gainesville. Gainesville, Georgia
2013 Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2013: NUMBER, Greensboro, North Carolina
Shine On, The Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences, Rabun, Georgia
Westobou Art Festival, Augusta, Georgia
InLight, 1708 Gallery, Richmond, Virginia
Mel Chin Opening, with PlantBot Intervention, McColl Center for Visual Art, Charlotte, North Carolina
2012 Whale Oil to Whole Foods. Greene County Council on the Arts Gallery & Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension, Catskills, New York
PlantBot Genetics, OxBow Ecological Preserve, Columbus Georgia
Whale Oil to Whole Foods Part 2. Cornell Cooperative Extension, Agroforestry Resource Center, Acra, New York
Plein Air. Airplane Gallery New York, New York
2011 E.V.A. (Experimental Video Art) BachModern Autumn Screening, Salzburg, Austria
Cerebral Departure: Investigations in Contemporary Issues. SpaceCamp Gallery, Indianapolis, Indiana
There’s No Place Like.... The Renaissance Center, Dickson, Tennessee
Digital Checkpoints Exhibition, (FLEFF) Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival, Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York
Edge of Life: Forest Pathology Invitational. Cole Art Center, Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches,Texas
Edge of Life: Forest Pathology in Art. Environmental Education, Science, and Technology (ESSAT) Building, Eagle Exhibit Hall, University of
North Texas, Denton, Texas
PlantBot Genetics. Billboard Art Project, Reading, Pennsylvania
PlantBot Genetics. Billboard Art Project, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
PlantBot Genetics. Billboard Art Project, San Bernardino, California
2010 “A Brief History of…”, Two-Minute Film Festival collaboration, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
4th Cairo Video Festival, Goethe Institute, Cairo, Egypt
dis.place.ment, Urban Institute for Contemporary Art (UICA), Grand Rapids, Michigan
Lens Based Image, Desotorow Gallery, Savannah, Georgia
Collaborative Artist Residencies
2020 The Studios of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia (cancelled due to Covid-19 travel restrictions)
2019 Airgentum. Seville, Spain
2018 Lakkos Art Center. Heraklion, Greece
2017 Hambidge Center for Art and Science, Rapun Gap, Georgia
2016 Etomica, Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada
Hambidge Center for Art and Science, Rapun Gap, Gerogia
Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois
2015 The Studios of Key West International Residency Program, Key West, Florida
Greening The Bay, Artist Residecy, St. Norbert College, DePere, Wisconsin
2014 Kauppilantie KulttuuriKauppila Art Centre Residency, Kauppilantie, Finland
Landscape Laboratory at Buitenwerkplaats, Artist in Residency, Amsterdam
2013 McColl Center Environmental Artists in Residence, Charlotte, North Carolina
Kimmel Nelson Harding Artist Residency, Nebraska City, Nebraska
2012 Hafnarborg International Artist Residency, Iceland
2011 Atlantic Center For The Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida
I-Park, East Haddam, Connecticut
The School of Making and Thinking, Delancey, New York
2010 American Academy in Rome, Visiting Artist, Rome, Italy
2009 I-Park, East Haddam, Connecticut
Lectures, Panels, Community Events, Workshops, Etc..
2020 Ostraka at Roanoake ArtsPop. Taubman Museum. Roanoake, Virginia.
Co-Chairs and Presenters at SECAC Conference, Richmond, Virginia.
Exhibiting Artist Lecture. Eleanor D. Wilson Museum of Art at Hollins University. Hollins, Virginia.
Artist Lecture. Hollins University Sustainable Architecture Class. Hollins, Virginia.
Exhibiting Artist Lecture. St Lawrence University. Canton, New York.
Mothology for Children Artist Lecture. St Lawrence University. Canton, New York.
Conversations on Craft and Food Justice. An Online Series Discussing Sustainability, and Craft. Contemporary Craft Museum. Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
Moth Mural. Augustana College Department of Biology: College of Insect Collections. Rock Island, Illinois.
2019 Lecture and Public Event. The Moth Project. Montevallo University, Montevallo, Alabama.
Lecture and Public Event. The Moth Project. Berry College, Mount Berry, Georgia.
PlantBot Workshop. Augsburg University, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lecture to Sculpture & 3D Classes. North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota
SECAC Conference Panel Chairs and Presenters
Tiny Mural for Biological Sciences Center, Georgia Southern University, Savannah Campus, Savannah, Georgia.
2018 SECAC Conference, Birmingham, Alabama
CAA Conference, Los Angeles, California
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Ronald E. McNair Life History Center, Lake City, South Carolina
Lakkos Art Center, Heraklion, Greece
2017 Pulse Art + Technology Festival, Telfair Museums, Savannah, Georgia
ArtLab. University of West Florida, Pensacola, Florida
ArtLab. Virginia Wesleyan University, Virginia Beach, Virginia
How Design Promotional and Marketing Award for PlantBot Genetics Field Guide, Designer Jarred Elrod
Foley High School PlantBot Drawing Workshop at UWF, Pensacola, Florida
ArtLab. Green Energy Fest, Pensacola, Florida
SECAC Conference, Columbus, Ohio
2016 Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa
SECAC Conference, Roanoke, Virginia
Longfellow Liberal Arts School, Davenport, Iowa
Augustana Teaching Museum, Rock Isand, Illinois
2015 Towards a Better Future. Service to Artist Committee Invitation, College Art Association, New York
Ideas in Sight Lecture, Savannah College of Art And Design, Savannah, Georgia
SECAC Conference, Panelist, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
California University, California, Pennsylvania
Slippery Rock, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Springhill College, Mobile, Alabama
Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin
St. Norbert College Art Department, De Pere, Wisconsin
YMCA Summer Camp, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Mulva Library, De Pere, Wisconsin
Boys and Girls Club, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay Botanical Garden, Green Bay. Wisconsin
Tsyunhehkwa, Oneida Nation Tribal Farm, Oneida. Wisconsin
Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, Green Bay, Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, Wisconsin
The Art Garage, Green Bay, Wisconsin
2014 Artist Lecture. Long Island University, Long Island, New York
Ignite #38 Interactive Lecture, Mediamatic Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Great Minds Lecture. The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia
The Moth Project at Hortus Botanics, Public Intervention, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Artist Lecture. Prescott College, Prescott, Arizona
SECAC Conference, Panelist, Sarasota, Florida
Interactive Lecture at Landscape Laboratory at Buitenwerkplaats, Amsterdam
Interactive Lecture and Workshop Iibaya, Ii, Finland
Entomological Art Series Workshop and Lecture,University of North Georgia, Gainesville, Georgia
2013 "We Could Be Heroes", Panel and Lecture. Bringham Young University Museum, Utah
PlantBot Agricultural Lecture Rotary Club, Nebraska City, Nebraska
Moths Meet Artist: Interactive Community ArtLab Event and Lecture, Reedy Creek Nature Preserve, Meckleburg County, North Carolina
EcoBot Art Intervention, Workshop and Lecture, Georgia Southern, Statesboro, Georgia
Interactive Lecture and Workshop, Episcopal Day School, Augusta, Georgia
SECAC Conference Panelist, Greensboro, North Carolina
Interactive Lecture with ArtLab, Arts and Science Council Summer Camp, Charlotte NC
Interactive Community Event, Sense and Science Garden Project at First Ward, Charlotte, North Carolina
Ineteractive Community Event, Annual Northwest Community Day, Charlotte, North Carolina
Interactive ArtLab Community Event, Discovery Place, Charlotte, North Carolina
Interactive ArtLab Community Event, FoodTruck Friday, Common Market, Charlotte, North Carolina
Lecture and Workshop, Shalom Park Freedom School, Charlotte, North Carolina
2012 PlantBot Genetics Lecture, The New Gallery, Calgary, Canada
PlantBot Genetics Workshop & Lecture. Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas
PlantBot Genetics Workshop & Lecture. Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania
Panelist, Disrupt This Session, College Art Association Conference, Los Angeles, California
PlantBot Genetics Event, OxBow Meadows Environmental Learning Center, Columbus Georgia
2011 Green Shadow Community Art-Making Event, McColl Center for Visual Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina
2009 PlantBot Community Interactive Experience, Auburn University's Department of Art & College of Engineering Collaboration, Jule Collins Smith Museum, Auburn, Alabama
Grants & Awards
2019 Sustainability Fee Grant for Tiny Mural 2. Georgia Southern University. Statesboro, Georgia.
SECAC Artist Grant, Honorable Mention. Chattanooga, Tennessee.
2018 Sustainability Fee Grant for Tiny Mural. Georgia Southern University. Statesboro, Georgia.
Sustainability Fee Grant for Tiny Mural. Armstrong University, Savannah, Georgia.
2017 How Design Promotional and Marketing Award for PlantBot Genetics Field Guide, Designer Jarred Elrod
2016 Seed Grant, ArtPrize 8. Grand Rapids, Michigan.
2015 Seed Grant, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia
NEA ArtsWork Grant / St. Norberts College: Support for The Moth Project, Exhibition and Residency in Green Bay, Wisconsin
2014 Marfa Diolougues/St. Louise Program Grant, Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts St. Louise, Missouri
Sustainability Fee Grant, The Moth Project at Georgia Southern University. Statesboro, Georgia
Bibliography
2020 DesChene, Wendy and Jeff Schmuki. Out of Place: Artists, Pedagogy and Purpose, edited by Zoe Charlton and Tim Doud, Punctum Books, Santa Barbara, California. (under contract). Essay submitted in 2020, in editing process; projected publication date 2021.
Staff Reporter. “Artists Operate Under the Guise of “PlantBot Genetics Inc”. The Roanoake Star, Feb. 28th. Web/Print.
2019 Barnes, Katy. “Moths: Bees of the Night”. The Alabamian, Montevallo, AL. September 30, 2019. Web/Print.
EP Sevilla. “Artistas internacionales ofrecen en una exposición su "particular visión" de la Sierra Morena”. EuropaPress. June 21, 2019. Web.
2018 Shields, Kathryn M and Sunny Spillane. Creative Collaboration in Art Practice, Pedagogy, and Research. (Cambridge Scholars Publishing)
Pages 32-38 and Cover Image. Print.
Leonard, Joseph. “PlantBot 2.0 art exhibit displayed at McMaster Gallery”. The Daily Gamecock. September 13, 2018. Print/Web.
Dahlgren, Annika. “Plant robots mix art and ecology”. University of South Carolina. August 17, 2018. Web.
2017 Burr, Ty. “What’s under the Domes? Hope for a Future”. Boston Globe. October 14th, 2017.
DesChene, Wendy and Jeff Schmuki. “Art, Science, and Moths?”. National Moth Week Guest Post, June 23, 2017. Nationalmothweek.org. Web.
Hilboldt, Brandy. “PlantBot Genetics Talk, Exhibit Start Conversations About Green Issues” WUWF - NPR for Florida’s Great NorthWest.
Pensacola, Feb 24th. Web
2016 Cullen, Jack. "Our Plants Sing Pop Songs". Quad City Times, Davenport, Iowa, May 30th. Print / Web
Turner, Jonathan. "Interactive Art Exhibit Tackles Moths, Plants, Nature". May 10th. Print / Web
Scarmana, Lucy. "The Moth Project Satirically Imagines A World Without Pollinators". NPR- WVIK May 31. Radio
2015 McMahon, Todd. “Art Project Aims to Squash Myths About Moths.” Green Bay Press Gazette, Green Bay, WI. June 17. Web / Print
Nemelka, Kev. “The Weight of the World: A Contemporary Art Exhibition of Affect, Reason and Sustainability.” Print / Catalogue
Murphy, Michelle, M, and Baptiste Lefebvre. "Horror Plants #5." Editorial. Make8elieve: Art and Culture Magazine Oct.-Dec, 60- 61. Web.
Zimmermann, Patricia R. Thinking through Digital Media: Transnational Environments and Locative Places (PalgraveMacmillan, 2015) Pages 45-46.
2014 Hodges, Micheal. "Food Art Plays Off Biotechs Scary Potential." Detroit News. Detroit. Feb 19th. Print
Losh, Lynn. "Jacob Gallery Exhibit Pokes Fun at Monsanto." The South End. Detroit. Feb 12. Print
Casinelli, Louis. "Foodture: PlantBot Genetics." Detroit Performs. Detroit. Feb 23. Print/Web
Sarah. "Like a Moth To The Flame, "GSU Presents Insect Attraction." Minutemen Press. Omaha, NE. Sept 10. Web
Bryant, Scott. "The Moth Project." Statesboro Herald. Sept12. Print/Web
Oudkerk, Sander. Positieve mot in de Hortus met het ‘Moth Project’. AmsterdamFM. Amsterdam, Netherlands. June. Radio
Frank Juarez. "PlantBot Genetics Interview." 365 Artists 365 Days Blog. Sept 13. Web
Angenent, Joella. “We lokken motten en mensen.” Joellaangenent.com. Amsterdam, Netherlands. June. Web
2013 Walker-Tome, Kara. "Plantbot Genetics Interview. " GYST Interview Radio/Blog. California. July 18. Radio/Web
2012 Blair, Jenn. “New Art Exhibit Looks at GMOs.” Homestretch Alberta. Canadian Broadcasting Company. May 8th,. Radio.
Mandybura, Cadence. “GMO thought experiments: Monster plantbots invade The New Gallery”.
Fast Forward Weekly. Volume 17 No. 24. May 17, 2012. Print.
McDonald, Roberta. “Monster Mash”. This Magazine. July-August, 2012, p. 38-39. Print
Mattingly, George. “Artists unleash ‘PlantBots’ on Campus.” The Houstonian, April 10, 2012. Print
2010 James, Baird. “PlantBots Pop Up in Italy, France, Korea, The USA and Now St. John’s.” The Current. St. John’s Newfoundland, Canada. May.
Print.
Kimelman, Molly.“UICA Highlights ‘Dis.place.ment’ Before Its Own Relocation.” The Grand Rapids Press. June 12. Print.
