A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Carolyn Monastra received her MFA in photography from The Yale School of Art. For the past 20 years her work has focused on creating and discovering mystery in the natural world. Artist residencies at Ucross, Djerassi, Blue Mountain Center, and the Saltonstall Foundation, among others, have given her inspirational environments in which to create her work. After being on a residency at the Skaftfell Visual Arts Center in Iceland, Carolyn was motivated to begin her project,The Witness Tree, a project to honor and preserve places affected by climate change. For this documentary project, she visited 20 American states, 17 countries, and every continent researching and photographing the climate crisis as well as sustainable solutions. This led her to her current environmental project about the threat of species extinction: Divergence of Birds. In 2012, she was selected by The Climate Reality Project to become one of their Climate Leaders. Some of Carolyn’s awards include The Zeke Award for Systematic Change (2022 Honorable Mention) a 2012 Grant from The Puffin Foundation, and a Fellowship from BRIC (2005).
Her work is in the prestigious Marguiles Collection in Miami, Florida, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, The Johnson & Johnson Corporate Art Collection, and has been exhibited in venues across the United States, China, Northern Ireland, and England. She currently lives in Brooklyn, New York and works wherever trees and birds are found.