About the Creators


Marnia Johnston
Marnia Johnston is a sculptor living in Concord, CA. She is an interdisciplinary instigator collaborating with engineers, synthetic biologists, programmers and tinkerers. In her most recent collaboration she co-curated the MultiSpecies Salon 3: Swarm with Dr. Eben Kirksey in New Orleans and helped to bring together over 75 artist participants and their work, displayed in three venues. MultiSpecies Salon 3 was in conjunction with the American Anthropological Association and supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.


Marnia has just been awarded the Visions from the New California Award from the James Irvine Foundation, which comes with a residency at the Exploratorium. She was recently awarded a purchase award from the Lincoln Arts Center and just finished a residency at the Watershed Arts Center in Maine. 


Her sculptures and drawings have been exhibited widely in California, most recently in the The American Museum of Ceramic Art, in Pomona California, at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History and at the MultiSpecies Salon at CUNY. She has also had work shown in Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina and abroad. Her work can be found in the permanent collection of the Icheon World Ceramic Center and has been recognized by the World Ceramic Biennial, South Korea with a diploma of honor and a medal of honor. She has also been recognized by the Marin Society of Artists with an award of merit. 


Born in California, Johnston holds a BFA from San Jose State University and MFA from the California College of the Arts (CCA). She continues to sculpt out of her studio in the Castro in San Francisco, CA.


Corey McGuire
Corey McGuire is a geek of all trades exploring the multidisciplinary field of robotics. Interested in the aesthetic of utility, he exposes the essence of purpose so that all audiences, including the mechanically disinclined, are eager and able to understand.  Much of what Corey does in the art world is to better understand and articulate the world for his son. With a desire to instigate and an ability to inspire, he succeeds in simplifying the development process for the observer and instills passion for future generations of robotic art geeks.

Corey helped to build SWARM (www.orbswarm.com), a herd of six semi-autonomous rolling robots with their own on board light, sound and gps systems. He is a contributing member of Noisebridge, and is a geek for the Flaming Lotus Girls and Flux Foundation. Corey is currently working on a variety of robotic projects through out the San Francisco Bay Area and lives in Daly City.