Artists in Research
Projects and Events
Publishing
PROJECTS + EVENTS
UPCOMING+
ONGOING+
A Collaborative Program of Biodesign Challenge and
Open Fung
August 1 - September 30, 2026
November 2025
October 2024
2024 - Ongoing
Past+
Webinar
Growing the Field: A Conversation on the Future of Mycelium Education
A conversation with
Dr. Callie Rodgers Chappell
Antoni Gandía
Denise Middleton
Facilitated by Open Fung
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
11 am PT / 2 pm ET
via Zoom
A Collaborative Program of Biodesign Challenge and
Open Fung
RECORDING OF CONVERSATION ON YOUTUBE
PARTICPANT BIOS
Trained as an ecologist, Dr. Callie Rodgers Chappell (they/them) is a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University. Callie’s work focuses on the environmental and social implications of bioengineered systems that live outside the lab, such as genetically engineered microbes. Callie collaborates with local communities and policymakers to promote environmental and social justice with synthetic biology. Callie’s art practice engages scientists inside and outside the academy—from youth, elders, artists, and activists--in the production of art and research. In particular, Callie focuses on community biology labs (“LABraries”) as sites for community-led biodesign innovation. Callie completed their master’s degree from the University of Michigan in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and PhD from Stanford University in Biology.
Antoni Gandía is a Catalan biotechnologist and research scientist specializing in fungal biotechnology, biofabrication, and sustainable material development. His work focuses on leveraging fungi to create eco-friendly alternatives to conventional materials, contributing significantly to advancements in sustainable manufacturing and environmental science.
We'll start with an introduction tracing the cultural roots of working with fungi, then bring together educators and practitioners for a candid dialog on what's needed to move the field forward - how to teach it, how to bring people in, and who's still being left out.
A live audience Q&A follows, and the conversation continues afterward in a running open document. All levels of experience are welcome!
(BIOS CONTINUED)
Denise Middleton (formerly King) currently holds the position of Director of Exhibit Development at the Exploratorium. In her role, she promotes curiosity, humility, and rigor in exhibit development by leveraging her strengths in concept development, prototyping, and interface design. Denise has been an exhibit developer at the Exploratorium since 2001. Before joining the Exploratorium, she worked as a field biologist. An interesting fact about Denise is that she once captured footage of desert kangaroo rats while on location in the Mojave Desert with David Attenborough, which inspired the Muad'Dib from Dune.
Webinar
Design, Grow, Compute with Mycelium
Presented by Okran Telhan
Thursday, August 13, 2026
10 am PT / 1 pm ET
via Zoom
A Collaborative Program of Biodesign Challenge and
Open Fung
Mycelium materials are often discussed through the objects they can become: packaging, food, textiles, composites, and, more recently, computational substrates. This webinar instead asks what forms of design become possible when making is inseparable from cultivation.
Drawing on work across design research, biotechnology, farming, and industrial production, Orkan Telhan will discuss how mycelium products emerge through relationships among organisms, environmental conditions, manufacturing systems, algorithms, and human judgment. Rather than treating biology as a material to control, the talk explores how design becomes a process of negotiation between biological variability and technical precision.
Through projects spanning mycelium packaging, food, engineered materials, and non-living mycelium chips for physical reservoir computing, the webinar introduces concepts including relational intelligence, morphological engineering, and the design–grow–compute paradigm. Together, these projects suggest that cultivation is not simply a manufacturing step, but an integral part of the design process itself.
Intended for students and professionals, the session offers a thoughtful perspective on designing with fungi across material, agricultural, and computational scales.
Bio:Orkan Telhan is Associate Professor of Art + Design at Northeastern University, President of the Biodesign Challenge, and former Chief Information and Data Officer at Ecovative, where he led AI, data systems, and computational infrastructure for industrial mycelium manufacturing.
Thursday, July 16, 2026
12 Noon, PT
The Local Contexts Biocultural and Sciences Working Group (BSWG) brings together group members who work within biocultural research and related science fields around the world who are interested in or are already using the Local Contexts system of Biocultural and Traditional Knowledge Labels and Notices.
2026 Conference
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
5:15 - 5:30 PM
Phil will be presenting on our Ganofornia project - developing an "open-source" California Ganoderma strain for biomaterials, built alongside a framework for ethical collection and use. If you're attending, we'd love to connect!
This Parallel Session is focused on Fungi and Global Change, chaired by Deborah Louisa Narh, Ph.D
An online public conversation with Laura Splan and Open Fung
Hosted by Open Fung
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
1:00 – 2:15 PM PT / 4:00 – 5:15 PM ET
RECORDING OF TALK ON YOUTUBE
Cryptic Lineages: Coaxing the Signal — a free online conversation with Laura Splan and Open Fung co-founders.
September 2025 - April 2026
Sunday May 16, 2026
11 AM - 4 PM
@MOCA Geffen, Los Angeles
Organized by artist Alika Cooper, this traveling collaborative event gathers artists and growers from across the Los Angeles basin to celebrate and sell plants and related goods.
Open Fung will be at Plant Sale LA sharing fungal knowledge and information about our programs; from scientific research to artist collaborations and a growing global network of researchers, citizen scientists, and creative practitioners working at the intersection of fungi and regenerative materials. We’ll also be sharing Ganofornia, our initiative developing fungal cultigens for biomaterials, starting with local California Ganoderma, and grounded in Indigenous bio-sovereignty and ethical frameworks for working with living systems.
Come by, say hi, and get into the mycelial future with us.
Saturday, January 17, 2026
11 AM - 12 Noon
Mycopreneur Live Round Table Discussion
Listen to the archived Discussion here
LOCATION: Zoom
Archived Discussion
Mycopreneur is hosting Open Fung & Fungaria for a live round table discussion on fungi conservation, ethics, genetics, and sustainable use in a global context.
Please get in touch via email or DM for a Zoom link!
Maker Faire Bay Area
“Lots o’ Rots! Making materials from fungi for fashion, packaging and building on Earth and beyond”
with Rachel Linzer and Rolando Perez
LOCATION: Mare Island Naval Shipyard: 560 Nimitz Ave, Vallejo, CA 94592.
LIVE STAGE
There is a wave of interest in using fungi to grow materials for building, textiles, packaging, and remediation to address some of our most pressing global challenges. Fungal materials are easy to create at home, unlike many other contemporary biotechnologies. Rolando Perez and Rachel Linzer from Open Fung – a scientist- and artist-led nonprofit building accessible tools for applied mycology – will talk about the possibilities of fungal materials on Earth and beyond, and how you might begin making mycomaterials of your own.
BioFab UK
LOCATION: London
The Biofab Fair is a visionary celebration and call-to-action for the global design community, hosted by Biofabricate during the London Design Festival, to explore a future built with biology.
LOCATION: OXY ARTS, Los Angeles, CA
LOCATION: Port Labs, Oakland, CA