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WORKSHOPS

Palm Bay Primary School - Margate

Mellissa's studio is situated at Palm Bay Primary school with a group of female artists Megan Metcalf, Sarah Stokes, Sara Jackson and Nova Marshall. Organised by Melanie Tong, the artists offers extra enrichment of arts to the school's curriculum as well as running regular projects teaching different skills and techniques. Since starting at the beginning of 2020, various groups of children have learn how to cast with alginate, plaster, drawn what they see down a microscope and made sculptures with modroc and clay.




Mellissa runs a series of workshops mixing Art and Microbiology. DYOM (Design Your Own Microbiome) is run at schools, colleges and festivals. Mellissa runs various workshops linking to science, as well as Illustration workshops. 

Design Your Own Microbiome Workshop with Bio-Artist Mellissa monsoon. "The Design Your Own Microbiome workshop encouraged club member’s to learn about the invisible world on their skin. The workshop allowed club member’s to engage with the invisible world through sculptural and painting techniques, alongside collage. As a part of the workshop, Mellissa taught the club how to cast their face’s (or hands) with ModRoc using basic casting methods and marbling inks to create ‘bacterial skin’ similar to existing microbiome. Club member’s were trained through health and safety alongside particular techniques needed to use the materials involved. Club members worked in pairs to each create a microbial portrait imitating the aesthetics of bacteria through sculpture. This workshop was formed to communicate the artist, Mellissa Monsoon’s, work on the project Microbial Me in which Mellissa and her collaborator, Professor Mark Clements, create bacterial sculptures with agar and living bacteria from the surface of her skin (in addition, scientist Michael Moseley’s body was Mellissa’s and Mark’s subject for a BBC4 documentary aired on the 17th May 2017). Club Member’s enjoyed learning about Mellissa’s work in the creative industry, watched video footage and time-lapse video art created by Mellissa, had the opportunity to ask questions regarding her career and witnessed how everything works behind the scenes to create such aesthetically pleasing, and conceptually articulate, work." - Written by Mindi Virdee from The National Saturday Art Club.

Other Workshops/Residencies & Awards

Select workshops:

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Green Man Festival - Workshop Leader August, 2018

Proteus Theatre, Basingstoke - Workshop Leader, June 2018

HackLab, Toronto - Event Organiser & Workshop Leader,nFebruary 2018

Ramsgate Festival, Ramsgate - Workshop Leader, July 2017

Ramsgate Seadog Festival, Ramsgate - Workshop Leader, July 2017

National Saturday Art Club, London - Workshop Leader, May 2017

Green Man Festival - Workshop Leader, August 2016

Orleans House, Twickenham - Workshop Leader, February 2016

Central Saint Martins, London - Workshop Leader, March 2016

The Royal Society, London - Illustration Tutor for The Big Draw, November 2015

Penrice Academy, Cornwall - Workshop Leader, September 2015 

The Royal Microscopic Society, London - Workshop Assistant, March 2015

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RESIDENCIES & AWARDS

Arts Council England DYCP Grant, January - September 2021

6 month development grant, focusing on learning new skills, strengthening connections with museums, curators and other artists to enhance my artistic practice as a result of covid-19.

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Birmingham University, UK Feb 2020 - Febrary 2021

Currently, Artist in Residence for the pilot Research Incubator project, working with a team to respond to research on themes of improving healthcare, communicating technology, and diagnostic algorithms.

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Art Ayatana - Mycophilia, Virtual Residency 2020

Group research residency exploring the world of fungi from artists all over the world via zoom in their own forests and sharing findings, learning from professionals in mycology from Cardiff University, Kew Gardens, and authors writing about fungi and bacteria. 

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A-N Time & Space Bursary June 2020 

Awarded to support creative practice during lockdown 2020.

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Palm Bay Primary School, Margate, July 2019 - PRESENT 

Permanent Artist in Residence with a collective of artists where we run weekly makers clubs and enrich their school curriculum with creative ideas and support for staff and students' ideas.

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The British Society for Immunology Grant, January 2019

BSI funding awarded to begin the Pillcam project which is ongoing.

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The Eden Project, Invisible Worlds Lab, Aug 2018

Collaboration residency with Prof. Mark Clements in the Invisible Worlds Lab on plant biology and forming project Modified Madder.

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Art Ayatana - Nocturne, Ottawa, Canada, June 2017

Group research residency, focusing on sound and nocturnal life in Ottawa.

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Arts Council England Grant, March 2017

ACE funding awarded for project Microbial Michael

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Art Ayatana - Biophilia Art & Biology, Ottawa, Canada, September 2015

Group residency, researching mycology and nature in the forest of Quebec, leading to the project Immortal Ground.

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