I wanted to do a project and thought presenting an exhibit that combines water science and art would be a great way to reach an audience that may not otherwise learn about the water challenges in South Carolina.
Masha Bokar, Clemson University senior
Masha Bokar, a Clemson University senior, uses her love of art to educate others about science.
Through her University Professional Internship and Co-op position with Heather Nix, a Clemson Cooperative Extension Service regional water resources agent, Bokar pitched the idea for a water-focused art exhibition. This led to a creative collaboration involving multiple universities, state agencies and a local art gallery.
The idea was selected as the 2025 Special Project for the Water Chats training program. Titled “Beyond the Surface,” the project is a collaborative effort by Clemson Extension, S.C. Sea Grant Consortium (SCSGC), the South Carolina Water Resources Center and Tiger Strikes Asteroid – Greenville art gallery.
The SCSGC team, led by Brooke Saari, included students Lola Renauer, a University of South Carolina Arnold School of Public Health doctoral candidate, and Nora Walker, a College of Charleston graduate student.
“Beyond the Surface” aims to raise awareness, inspire collaborative innovation and promote conversations about water resource challenges in South Carolina. The exhibit features artwork by 25 artists and is sponsored by Greenville Water, Renewable Water Resources and Mount Pleasant Waterworks. It is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, through March 22 at Tiger Strikes Asteroid — Greenville, 201 Smythe St., Greenville, S.C. Admission is free.
Bokar is majoring in environmental and natural resources. She has a double minor in art and sustainability. She is also a mixed media and ceramic artist, which helped her connect the Tiger Strikes Asteroid gallery with the Clemson Extension team.
After she graduates in May, Bokar plans to work in an art studio and with an environmental group.
A love for art and science
“I have long appreciated art,” said Bokar, who lived in France as a child when her father, who works for Michelin, was sent to France for work. “I wanted to do a project and thought presenting an exhibit that combines water science and art would be a great way to reach an audience that may not otherwise learn about the water challenges in South Carolina.”
Bokar’s experiences while living in France impact her life today.
“Growing up in France heavily influenced my multidisciplinary approach to schooling, meaning I have always made it a large priority to work on my art and academics concurrently and let what I learn in each field inform the other,” she said.
“Besides, this is what the Clemson Cooperative Extension Service is all about — providing research-based information to help improve the quality of life for all South Carolina residents.”
Nix agrees.
“When Masha approached me with her idea for an art exhibit, I thought it was great,” Nix said. “It seemed like a way to reach a fresh audience – one we may not reach with our other programs. Because water affects us all, this exhibit is a great way to share our water resources knowledge with people through art.”
George and Sarah Fletcher of Greenville visited the exhibit on opening night. Sarah Fletcher noted the message portrayed in the “MASS 4” exhibit created by Kim Thomas of Charleston. This piece is a cast net hand-crocheted from single-use plastic shopping bags and poly mailers. It calls attention to the toll single-use plastics are taking on the environment.
“I am concerned about microplastics in the water,” Sarah Fletcher said. “This piece is a great reminder of the damage plastics can do to our environment. I use insulated and reusable bags when I grocery shop. It’s a little thing, but over time, it could amount to much.”
Art on display
The exhibit includes drawings and paintings depicting the challenges to and beauty of the state’s waterways and artwork created from trash collected from rivers, lakes and the ocean.
Kayleigh Walker, a 13-year-old artist from Easley, visited the exhibition with her father. She is interested in art, particularly cartoon drawings.
“I think it’s pretty cool to combine science and art,” Walker said. “It’s nice to see trash repurposed to create art.”
The exhibit features 24 pieces of art, each conveying a message related to water quality, contaminants of emerging concern, and water resilience, planning and preparedness.
Artists recognized
Awards were presented on opening night.
Best of Show went to Morgan Serreno East of North Charleston for her acrylic and oil on canvas painting “Inhale.” Blending realism with expressive mark-making, East captures the delicate balance between the familiar and the unexplored.
Madison Hill won the Best in Show – Student Choice Award for her piece, “Sodium Hypochlorite 01.” Through this work, Hill demonstrates what she witnessed as a student in southwestern Virginia. Hill’s display contains 35mm film exposed to environmental contaminants found at the New River Junction in Montgomery County, Virginia. Through various darkroom experiments, she discovered how a film strip’s organic gelatinous base reacts to toxins. The digital print is from the 35mm negative.
Syd Greene of the Appalachian Foothills won the Water Quality Award for “Fish On,” a composition made of graphite, ink and watercolor on paper mounted on a wooden panel. Greene’s piece references a single dead stocked trout tangled in refuse that she photographed along the bank of the Middle Saluda River in Upstate South Carolina. Using digital programs to multiply and transform the image, the final mixed-media drawing becomes an artificial composition imitating a thriving school of fish.
Heather Bird Harris of Atlanta received the Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern Award for “Power of Hydrogen: Georgia’s Rivers.” The piece includes macro scans of neutral and alkaline water mixed with ink from white oak acorns, buckvine and yaupon, wild blueberries and buckvine, all materials found in Atlanta. This work explores environmental loss, the multiple histories of American land and mothering amid ecological decline.
The Water Resilience Award went to Sally Ann McKinsey and Drew Sisk for “Flood Loop.” The piece highlights the challenges of managing water in a changing world and emphasizes the need for forward-thinking infrastructure. It incorporates rainwater, submersible utility pumps, garden hoses, plastic storage containers, a moving box and a gospel tract to demonstrate the precarity and power of ideologies that have impacted the environment.
For information on all artists and works featured in the exhibition, visit www.scseagrant.org/about-the-artists.
-END-
On opening night, Erick Bousman and Ryan Oliver observe a piece titled “Bilge” by Austin Sheppard. This piece represents PFAS, or “forever chemicals.” In 2021, Sheppard learned that he had been drinking well water contaminated with PFAS. This work is about his dreams of purging all of the chemicals from his body. It is constructed from an object he found, reclaimed materials and resin.
More scenes from opening night
Photos below are more scenes from opening night for “Beyond the Surface,” an art exhibit that aims to raise awareness, inspire collaborative innovation and promote conversations about water resource challenges in South Carolina. The exhibit features artwork by 25 artists. It is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, through March 22 at Tiger Strikes Asteroid — Greenville, 201 Smythe St., Greenville, S.C. Admission is free.
Get in touch and we will connect you with the author or another expert.
Or email us at news@clemson.edu