Ocean School Collective

The Ocean School Collective (OSC) engages in artistic research, speculative fabulation, performance, and creative public education events in order to promote a new environmental ethic called “ocean thinking.” We aim to expand the cultural and ethical spheres to include the world of whales by engaging in futurism and fabulation to decode the songs and ceremonies of whales. Ocean School’s focus on whales allows for ethical concerns to be expanded beyond the human alone. Opening up artistic space for humans and whales to meet together “in the safety of the song” in language, culture, ceremony, and practices allows for a playful entry point into the practice of negotiating across different epistemological registers.

"Expedition Oceanbourn," a temporary Open Art School and Speculative Fabulation durational performance by Ocean School Collective at the Ocean Alliance for the 2025 Goetemann Environmental Installation Artist Residency, sponsored by Rocky Neck Art Colony, September 4 - 28, 2025.

"Where the Land Meets the Sea," a public art performance by Ocean School Collective at the Ocean Alliance for Culture Splash, sponsored by Gloucester Main Streets & Rocky Neck Arts, August 18, 2023

Kate Farrington, "Painting Scroll for the Whales" (2025), 44 ft, double-sided, underwater, painting scroll for the whales. Fabric paint on fabric. 4' x 44', for the Goetemann Environmental Installation Artist Residency at the Ocean Alliance, Rocky Neck, Gloucester, MA (Festival launch at Expedition Oceanbourn: Final Convivium, Tarr & Wonson Paint Factory at the Ocean Alliance in Rocky Neck, MA, September 28, 2025