Messages from the Marsh is an immersive experience featuring video projections, sound art, and mapping. The project showcases marsh locations along the US East Coast that are projected to be underwater by 2050 due to sea level rise, tides, and storm surges. Videos highlight the unique otherworldly beauty of these locations, both above and below the water, with natural elements playing a significant role in co-producing the videos.

Supported by research, the project aims to raise awareness about the potential impact of coastal marsh loss on the ecosystem. It emphasizes the importance of marshes as transitional barrier spaces, rich migratory habitats, and carbon capture systems. Additionally, it focuses on preservation, restoration, and management efforts. The work involves site-specific research, video documentation, and in-person engagement. Video is captured using a GoPro both above and within the marsh water bodies, and layered maps of the threatened marshes are also created. Parts 1–6 are based on recordings from various locations in Massachusetts, with additional parts currently in production. Parts 4–6 are set to premiere this fall and will be shown in the Kingston Gallery Project Space this December.

Coastal marsh areas for the continued project, with travel permitting:

• Scituate, Conservation Park and Rivermoor Habitat Park, Norris Reservation, Bound Brook Pond, Marshfield English Salt Marsh, Duxbury, North & South Rivers, New Bedford

• Ipswich Salt Marsh, Great Marsh Areas of Ipswich and Essex, Plum Island Reserve, Rough Meadows Wildlife Sanctuary, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Salisbury

• Boston Harbor Islands, Seaport, Nahant, Revere, Winthrop, E. Boston, Chelsea, Dorchester, Quincy, Nantasket, Hull

• Truro, Pamet & Salt Marsh, Falmouth, Wequoit Bay Area of Critical Concern, Sandwich, Sandy Neck Beach Great Marshes

• Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Ogunquit, Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve, ME

• New York/Lower Manhattan, Long Island South Bay

• Delaware, Black Water National Refuge

• NC Outer Banks, Alligator River Reserve, Currituck Outer Banks, Shackleford Banks, Rachel Carson Reserve on Carrot Island Crystal Coast, Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge

• Savannah, Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Charleston

• Miami, Everglades National Park, Florida Keys, Sarasota

• New Orleans, Maurepas Swamp Wildlife Mgmt. Area, Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge

• Houston, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge

Artist Bio

Video artist Amy Kaczur has exhibited her work globally, with a focus on environmental concerns and community. Kaczur has lived and worked extensively in Boston, Cambridge, Long Beach, and Los Angeles. She has participated in residency programs in California, Colorado, and New York, and is a member of Kingston Gallery, Boston.

Her current projects center around urgent water issues, particularly U.S. coastal flood zones and rising sea levels that threaten coastal marshes and ecosystems. Kaczur's environmental concerns are influenced by time spent in California, and also her roots and family background outside Cleveland and southern Ohio, as well as the complex struggle between land use and conservation. Additionally, she works at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a group administrator for three research labs that focus on air and water pollution, climate change modeling, and clean energy development and storage. She continuously develops her art practice, supported by relentless research, discovery by experiment, and the pleasure of inquisitive searching.

Kaczur holds an MFA from University of California, Irvine, and a BFA from Tufts University.