Saturday, July 18th

8:30–11pm

Due to limited space at Pulp, this event is by invitation only — each invited party may bring one vehicle to this event, with as many people as you'd like to add to your carpool.

Join us for a special evening exploring insect biodiversity with artist Ang DeCarlis, Dr. Vaughn Shirey of the Florida Museum, and our very special guests Y No Había Luz, a theater company visiting Gainesville from Puerto Rico. Following a presentation from Dr. Shirey, attendees will engage directly with our local insect nightlife by creating and deploying shadow puppets "in the field" — on illuminated bug sheets designed to attract moths, beetles, and more. Participants will receive artistic guidance from academy-trained visual art educator Ang DeCarlis, as well as tips and tricks in the art of puppetry from members of Y No Había Luz.

This is a FREE event! You and your carpool guests will be sent a pre-event and post-event survey to measure this program's impact on your relationship to nature. We hope you take the time to complete these surveys at your leisure!

This event is funded thanks in part to support from the Florida Museum. Additionally, we are grateful to UF Arts in Medicine for bringing Y No Había Luz to Gainesville for arts programming throughout the week. Thank you finally to Pulp Arts for hosting Y No Había Luz as well as our Nocturnal Neighbors event.

Read more about this event's creative collaborators below:

Y No Había Luz

We seek to provide interdisciplinary artistic experiences that awaken in individuals sensitivity, beauty, creativity, freedom of thought and spirit, conscience, solidarity, and social justice in Puerto Rico and the world.

Founded in 2005, the Y No Había Luz Theater Company carries out constant artistic work that contributes to the growth and development of Puerto Rican culture, linking art to education. They provide the community with a direct approach to the visual and performing arts through workshops, theater pieces and cultural management projects, with productions exploring themes of climate, nature, and interconnectivity.

Dr. Vaughn Shirey

Vaughn Shirey, Ph.D. is a multidisciplinary visual artist, ecologist, and data scientist living and creating in Gainesville, Florida. Their work focuses on themes of biodiversity, ecological change, posthumanism, queer identity, and biopolitics. Vaughn primarily works with alternative process photography and mixed media, often collaborating with other scientists and artists to produce work. They also produce community and sports-centered photography, focusing on queer-organized events and games.

Ang DeCarlis

Angela DeCarlis has been teaching observational drawing for more than 10 years. They believe in the power of community-oriented participatory arts, and work to make art education available and accessible to everyone. When not teaching art (or community social dance) Ang can be found exploring the swamps, wetlands, and waterways that make our North-Central Florida biome special.