Ponca City’s John McNeese Gallery opened in July and since has held several exhibitions for different art in the community. Their next exhibit, planned to begin on Jan. 10, is called Seed Reef. This is an immersive installation of sculpted paper created to show the coral reef that has been threatened by bleaching and pollution.

“Visitors are encouraged to help restore, or “seed” the damaged reef by constructing their own corals and reef inhabitants to add the the instillation. This Process simulates actual coral restoration efforts using nurserygrown fragments,” says the City Arts Facebook Page.

This allows visitors to not only understand the consequences of climate change, which is what is destroying coral reef, but how they could help as well. While in the immersive exhibit, visitors will be able to walk in what feels like an underwater experience created with sculpted paper that transitions from vibrant corals and sea life, to a barren wasteland of bleached coral skeletons.

“By crafting corals, visitors are helping seed the bleached region of Seed Reef, bringing it back to a healthy, thriving state and mirroring the actions we must take to understand and remedy our complex relationship with this planet and preserve its biodiversity.”

The artisits, Emma Difani and Malcom Zachariah, formed a creative partnership from the love they shared for material, nature, and experimentation to creative the immersive paper environment known as Seed Reef. Difani, originally from Albuquerque, NM, is now living and working in Oklahoma City. Not only does she create pieces such as these, but she is also an educator. Difani teaches arts at Oklahoma Contemporary, Artspace at Untitled, The Oklahoma Children’s Theater, and Oklahoma City University. Examples of Difani’s dedication to the arts and Oklahoma are in no short supply, on top of her teaching and creating, Difani is also an active member of the Factory Obscura Collective, ART GRP, and the Radical Intersection Print Guild. She also co-founded Connect:Collect, an annual international print exchange created to highlight and connect printmakers in Oklahoma to artists around the globe.

Zachariah, based out of his hometown of Oklahoma City, was self-taught during his studies of biochemistry and has connected his love for science and art through his art. While using several different medias, Zachariah draws motifs from the macroscopic and microscopic worlds. He is active in the Oklahoma arts community, in exhibitions and serving on the Art Group OKC collectives leadership team, and promotes diversity and inclusion in art.

Together, they have created this masterpiece and with the help of other local artists Dale Coons, Summer Gardener, Andrew Hicks, and Theresa Sacket, are sharing it with Ponca City at the John McNeese Gallery. Opening night is set for Tue., Jan. 10 from 12 pm to 6 pm and the last day of the exhibit is planned for Sat., Feb. 18 from 12 pm to 4 pm. This is an experience that most won’t want to miss, in Ponca City at the City Central Building.