VALE COLLECTIVE Camila A. Morales. Founder & Director camila.a.morales@gmail.com 917.833.9079
BIOS
BIOS Valé Collective
Camila A. Morales, Founder & Director
Email:
camila.a.morales@gmail.com
About Valé:
Valé is a Latinx led eco-centered art and design collective based in the Far Rockaways, New York. Founded by artist and educator Camila A. Morales, Valé blends environmental science, bioacoustic research, and communityrooted design to build climate literacy, ecological connection, and a deep sense of belonging in a frontline coastal community. Evolving from the work she created with Buena Onda Collective, Valé develops bilingual educational programs, youth workshops, public art, and field-based research that strengthen coastal resiliency, support soils and ocean health, and address long-standing environmental injustices in the Rockaways. The EcoLab functions as a community placemaking hub where youth, residents, artists, and scientists learn together through hands-on exploration, creative technology, and open-source environmental storytelling, cultivating stewardship, shared agency, and connection to the land and waters that sustain us.
Mission:
Valé connects art, science, ecology, and community to imagine more sustainable futures for the Rockaways. Through free workshops, public art installations, youth programs, and collaborative research projects, the EcoLab nurtures ecological awareness, supports STEAM education, and strengthens community resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Valé EcoLab:
The Valé EcoLab is designed as a living classroom and community hub, where artists, scientists, youth, and residents can learn and experiment together. It hosts free classes, research sessions, and public projects exploring the relationships among nature, technology, art, and design. Rooted in the coastal setting of Far Rockaway, the EcoLab invites participants to work with natural materials, sound, light, and digital tools to build new ways of understanding and living with the changing climate.
BIOS
BIOS
Camila A. Morales is a Latinx interdisciplinary artist, designer, and educator working at the intersection of art, architecture, and new media technologies. As a Chilean-Canadian immigrant, her transnational experience shapes a practice rooted in place, belonging, and environmental care. She explores the sensory connections between the built environment, ecological systems, and human experience through immersive installations, soundscapes, and extended reality that advance environmental and social justice. Based in Far Rockaway, NY, she co-founded the Buena Onda Art Collective, creating public artworks and free workshops that engaged communities in climate literacy and coastal resilience. She now continues this work through Valé, an eco-centered art and design lab that deepens these foundations through new forms of ecological storytelling, community engagement, and sustainable design. With over 15 years of professional experience in both art and architecture, Morales has contributed to diverse projects including the Obama Presidential Library Sculpture Garden and the Smith College Library. She currently teaches at Parsons School of Design and NYU Tandon School of Engineering in the Integrated Design and Media Department, where her work continues to build interspecies connections and evoke a sense of wonder for the world around us, while imagining a more just and ecological future. Social Media: @camilamorales (instagram)
CV
CV Camila A. Morales
Education
>Masters of Architecture. Alpha Rho Chi Award Recipient, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) 2013 >Bachelors of Science in Architecture, University of Maryland School of Architecture Planning and Preservation 2005
Work Experience:
>Founder & Director, Valé, Design, Public Art & Education Outreach, December 2023 - Present >Co-founder, Buena Onda Collective, Public Art & Education Outreach, October 2019 - October 2025 >Designer and Fabricator, Cooper Hewitt Museum NYC, Smithsonian Design Museum, Making Home Triennial Exhibition, Spring 2024 >Design Lead, LAB at Rockwell Group, Experiential Design and Architectural Design, March 2022 - June 2024 >Design Lead/Project Manager, Maya Lin Studio, Cultural and Institutional Architectural Projects, Art & Landscape installations, Feb. 2014 - March 2022 >Design Lead, Lizzie Lang, Fenty x Puma set design and visualization for Rihanna commercial, November 2023 >Design Lead, Ellwas, Exhibition Design for Museum of Ice Cream in Chicago, January - March 2022 >Exhibition Design, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko, Exhibition visualization for Wexner Museum solo show, September 2021 >Professional Advisory Board, Design Brigade, Yale University, Summer 2021 >Guest critic, Landscape Architecture Studio, USC, February 2021 >Guest critic, Independent study, Yale University, April 2021 >Guest critic, Directed Research, Pratt University, December 2016 >Exhibition Design, NOT x Chris Saunders, Exhibition design for solo show in NYC and Museum of African Design, 2014 - 2015 >Architectural Designer, SITU Studio, Competitions and exhibition Design, August 2013 - February 2014 >Research Assistant, Parametric Design Research with RISD Architecture School and Brown University, June 2012 - June 2013 >Architectural Designer , Jones/ Ginzel Artist Studio, June 2011 - July 2012 >Research Assistant, Pari Riahi Architects, Summer 2011 >Research Assistant, Holcim Competition, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Sept. 2010 - March 2011 >Research Assistant, ACE Providence Outreach program, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Sept. 2010 - March 2011 >Project Manager, AENArchitects, New York, Commercial and Residential Projects and Design Competitions , 2006 - 2010
Teaching Experience:
>Adjunct Professor, Parsons School of Design, Creative Technology Course, Ecological Design Course, and Thesis Interior Design, Fall 2024 - Present >Adjunct Professor, NYU Tanden School of Engineering, Immersive Art Installation Course, Graduate Thesis, Ideation & Prototyping, Digital Fabrication, Spring 2019 - Present >RISE Rockaway Initiative for Sustainability & Equity – Summer Youth Program, Summer 2020- Present >Summer Academy Studio Leader, Boston Architectural College (BAC), July 2013 >Instructor, AS220, February 2013 >Fablab Technician Assistant, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, June 2012 - July 2012 >Teaching Assistant, Architecture Design Studio, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Feb. 2012- May 2012 >Teaching Assistant, Digital Representation, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Feb. 2010 - May 2012 >Instructor, National Building Museum, Washington, DC, Summer 2004 - 2006
Exhibitions
>‘Daedalus’ Labyrinth, student group show RISD Architecture Department Triennial, Woods Gerry Gallery (Spring 2011) >‘Translucent lattice’ group show, RISD Architecture School, BEB Gallery (Spring 2011) >‘More and More, More is More’ group show, RISD Museum, Gelman Gallery (January - February 2013) >Graduate student thesis group show, Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence, RI (June 2013) >Group show, AIA gallery, Providence RI (June 2013) >‘(media)ting architecture’ thesis group show, RISD Architecture School, BEB Gallery (Summer 2013) >Rogue Wave group show, Culturefix Gallery, New York City (January 2014) >‘Sonic Constellation’, RISE Art Underneath the Elevated public art in Far Rockaway, Queens (2020/ 2021) >’Networks of Collective Care’, Recess Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (March 2023) >‘Breathing Together: a Love Story’, NYC Parks, Rockaway Beach (2022) >’Rockaway Refuse, Rockaway Beach Outdoor Exhibition (November 2021) >’Oneiromancy: divination through dreams’, RISE Art Underneath the Elevated public art in Far Rockaway, Queens (2023) >Flushing Town Hall Solo Show Exhibition: emergentSEAS (June 2024) >Sedimeditations, installation, Flushing Town Hall Gala, Queens, NY (October 2024) >Actions of Water Awareness, Stony Brook University, Long Island NY, 2025 >Socrates Sculpture Park, Earth Month Convergence Dandelions Assembly, Queens, NY 2025
CV Cont. Exhibitions
>Far Rockaway Earth Day Celebration Community Art, Rockaway Film Festival x Buena Onda x Laru Beya, (April 2025) >Grounded, Driftwood Gallery, Queens, NY (April 2025) >Arterventions, NYC Department of Transportation Public Art - Mural, May 2025 >Underneath the elevated Train Mural: Seaside Strong, Far Rockaways, NY (May 2025) >Socrates Sculpture Park, ‘Radiating Undercurrents – Communing with Elements of Socrates’ (September - October 2025)
Grants / Fellowships
> RISE Shorecorps Art workshops (2020- present) > Art Under the Elevated Grant (NEA) (2020) > Sun Prints Workshop Edgemere Farm (2020) > Sun Prints Workshop: Creating Cyanotypes from Beach Refuse (2021) > City Artist Corps Grant (NYFA) (2021) > Works on Water Triennial Grant (NEA) (2022) > Art Workshop, Jamaica Bay Festival (July 2022) > More Art Engaging Artist Fellowship (2022-2023) > Entangled Intimacies Workshop: community artmaking with mycelia, Rockaway Hotel (March 2023) > Earth Day beach cleanup and art installation, Arverne Cinema x Laru Beya x Buena Onda Collectives (April 2023) > Queens Community Arts Grant (NYSCA), Laru Beya x Buena Onda Collectives (2023) > Staying Afloat Workshop with Laru Beya (NYFA) (July 2023) > Sun Prints Workshop: Creating Cyanotypes from Beach Refuse, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy (July 2023) > National Endowment for the Arts, Onieromancy, RISE – Extended Reality (2023) > Jamaica Bay Rockaway Parks Conservancy: Floyd Bennett Field! Public Arts Festival (April 2024) > Earth Day beach cleanup and art installation, Arverne Cinema x Laru Beya x Buena Onda Collectives (April 2024) > Flushing Town Hall Art Grant for Queens (2024) > Flushing Town Hall General Operating Grant for Queens (2024) > City Council Citiation (April 2024) > Human Impact Institute Fellowship with SWALE, Govenors Island (July 2024) > Rockaway Film Festival Stop-Motion Animation Workshop (August 2024) > B.R.I.D.G.E Latino Heritage Month Celebration (October 2024) > Culture Push Associated Artist, NYC (2025-2026) > Earth Day beach cleanup and art installation, Arverne Cinema x Laru Beya x Buena Onda Collectives (April 2025) > Flushing Town Hall Community Art Grant NYFA 2025 > Queens Art Fund NYSCA 2025 > Dinacon 2025, Les Village, Bali (June-July 2025) > Socrates Sculpture Park Field Guide Summer Workshop series: ‘Radiating Undercurrents – Communing with Elements of Socrates’ (AugustSeptember 2025) > 2025 Community Leader Grant Award > RISE Earthday Celebration - Incantations for the Unseen (May 2025) > RISE Shorecorps Celebration - Incantations for the Unseen (August 2025) > Sandy Soils & Soundwaves: A Far Rockaway Soils Festival (August 2025) > Sol de Vida: Sol Creativo Art Workshop: ‘Ecos’ (September 2025) > B.R.I.D.G.E Latino Heritage Month Celebration - Raices del Mar: A community tile Mural (October 2025) > Jamaica Bay Rockaway Parks Conservancy & NYC Surfrider Foundation beach cleanup volunteer coordinator (present) > Blue Water Task force volunteer (present)
CV Artist Talks
> Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (July 2012) > NYU Tandon School of Engineering (2019) > Civic Art Lab (October 2020) > Design Brigade, Yale University (summer 2020) > Culture Push (June 2021) > Rhode Island School Of Design (February 2022) > Artist Talk with Buena Onda Collective, Rockaway Hotel (July 2022) > Civic Artlab with Buena Onda Collective (October 2023) > NYU ITP Tish Artist Talk (December 2023) > New York Climate Week Panel: The Culture of Environmental Justice, Marketplace of the Future (September 2024) > Metabolism of Cities & Soils, USI’s 9th annual urban soils symposium. (November 2024) > NYU Environmental Justice Group (February 2025) >“Overtones and Undercurrents: Community-Centered Sound & Listening Practices” AWA Conference with Buena Onda Collective, Stony Brook University (May 2025) >Civic Artlab (October 2025) > Metabolism of Cities & Soils, USI’s 10th annual urban soils symposium. (November 2025)
Skills
> Operating Systems: Windows, Mac OS > Microsoft Tools: Word, PowerPoint, Excel > Design Tools: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Adobe Premiere, AutoCAD, Rhino 3D, Enscape, V-ray for Rhino, Maxwell for Rhino, RhinoScript, working knowledge of Grasshopper, Rhino CAM, Blender, Python, Twin Motion, Unity, Touch Designer, Audacity, Ableton and Figma > Web-Design Tools: working knowledge of HTML, CSS and Javascript (JQuery) and WordPress > Physical Computing: working knowledge of Max/MSP/Jitter, Arduino, Processing, P5.js, ml5.js and Kinect > Fabrication: laser cutting, CNC routing, 3d printing, Wood and Metal shop training, vacuum forming and mold making. > Printmaking: letterpress, intaglio, block printing, screenprinting, papermaking and natural pigments. > Language: fluent in Spanish.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 1 Title: ‘Translucent Lattice’ Date: 2010 Material: acrylic, aluminum bolts, monofilament. Dimensions: 12’-0” x 4’-0” x 4’-0” (width x depth x height), RISD Architecture School Gallery Description: Inspired by the play of light through patterned surfaces, this sculptural threshold transforms flat acrylic into a rippling lattice that shifts with movement. Each bent and laser-cut unit creates subtle variations in transparency and shadow, turning a simple entry into an active sensory experience. What begins as an industrial material takes on an organic presence, filtering light and softening the entrance to the gallery. The piece explores how materials can feel alive, inviting a dynamic relationship between people, form, and space.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 2 Title: ‘Responsive Environment’ Date: 2011 Material: leds, sound sensor, plastic cups, binder clips and micro-controller. Dimensions: https://vimeo.com/124181980, 8’-0” x 4’-0” x 10’-0” (width x depth x height), Risd Art Museum Gallery Description: Inspired by the bioluminescence of jellyfish, this interactive artwork transforms everyday materials like plastic cups and binder clips into a luminous, drifting ecosystem. Reacting to sound, the sculpture shifts colors and vibrates, mimicking the delicate sensory responses of marine life. As visitors move through the space, their presence activates a feedback loop of light and motion, reimagining common objects as living systems. The piece explores how simple materials and subtle interactions can evoke the wonder and complexity of nature’s unseen environments.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 3 Title: ‘Sonic Constellation’ Date: 2020 / 2021 Material: plastic bottles, chicken wire, aluminum frame, interactive speakers, wood columns and cable wires. Dimensions: 6’-0” x 8’-0” X 3’-0”, Far Rockaways, NY Description: An interactive installation exploring our consumerism, ecological interdependence and impact on the Rockaway environment both physical and invisible. Passerby’s trigger sounds from the cloud-like LED lit sculpture made of recycled bottles. The soundscapes use voice, recordings of nature and electromagnetic audio of sonic pollution revealing our fragile ecological relationships. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 4 Title: Edgemere Cyanotypes Date: August 2021 Material: cyanotype paper, foraged plant matter Dimensions: variable Description: A hands-on cyanotype workshop held at Edgemere Farm, inviting participants to create sun prints
using foraged plants from the farm. This afternoon gathering explored alternative photographic processes while deepening connections to local ecology through art and observation.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 5 Title: ‘Rockaway Refuse’ - Cyanotypes & Community Workshop - City Artist Corp Grant Date: September 2021 Material: cyanotype paper and fabric Dimensions: 5’x7’ Canvas, 8”x10” cyanotype prints Description: Cyanotypes of Rockaway Refuse was a public workshop, beach cleanup, and art auction in support of Laru Beya Collective. This community-centered project brought together local residents, artists, and passersby to collect trash and plant life from the Rockaway Peninsula’s beaches. Participants were invited to co-create sunprints using materials found along the shoreline and impressions from their own bodies. The resulting cyanotypes were exhibited during an afternoon art opening and auction, with all proceeds supporting Laru Beya’s youth empowerment summer program. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 6 Title: ‘Breathing Together: A Love Story’ Date: May 2022 - September 2022 Material: Acrylic, water, leds, solar panel, steel frame, algae Dimensions: 4’-0” x 2’-0” x 8’-1” (width x depth x height) Description: This work explores the symbiotic relationship between humans, algae, and the air we breathe. As the climate crisis intensifies, there is an urgent need to recognize the interdependent nature of our mutualistic relationships. The living sculpture embodies this connection, inviting audiences to send care and energy to the algae growing within. Acrylic tanks form the word CARE, each serving as a habitat where algae convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. At the project’s conclusion, the remaining algae were used to create prints in a community workshop, extending the sculpture’s life. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 7 Title: ‘Temporalities of Atmospheric Attunement’ Date: March 2023 - on going project Materials: mycelia, cable wire, speakers, LEDs, projector, mirrors Dimensions: https://vimeo.com/683331508 , 19’-0” x 13’-0” x 11’-0” (width x depth x height) Description: This living installation creates a space for humans and fungi to share an intimate interaction through the use of biosonifiers and video feedback. These energy systems unfold through time and space as people are in proximity of the mushrooms they create a mycoreaction. The oyster mushrooms then trigger a midi device that translates the electrical signals into music notes. This mycosymphony and the sound of people in the space then trigger a video feedback device mapped onto the hanging mushrooms, generating immersive abstract visuals. The video projection is a poetic visualization of the symbiosis and communication between humans and mycelia. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 8 Title: ‘Our Fruiting Bodies’ date: April 2023 material: mycelia, cable wire, speakers, LEDs,CRT dimensions: 24 in x 24 in description: An interactive community performance that unravels the mechanisms and potentials of communication with our fungal counterparts. The event started with a beach cleanup at Dubos Point Wildlife Sanctuary collecting over 440lbs of trash with our partners Laru Beya Collective, Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, Arverne Cinema and community members from Rockaway and beyond. We later gathered for a film festival celebrating Earth day, inviting the public to interact with our fungal biocircuit with live analog visual data on display via CRT. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 9 Title: ‘Staying Afloat: sustainable recycled surfboar sculptures’ date: June 2024 material: upcycled wine cork stoppers, wood, reclaimed surfboards dimensions: various size surfboards description: is a workshop series inviting community members of Far Rockaway to collaborate with Buena Onda and Laru Beya Collective to ponder ocean life in the age of consumerism and explore sustainable creative expression. By using the collected trash from our organized monthly beach cleanup to create recycled surfboard sculptures and other small flotation devices. From foam, balloons, corks, and other discarded items, we will shape boards that embody a poetic vision of our community’s response to the climate crisis at hand. The boards will be presented at a community art show to highlight Laru Beya’s youth programs. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 10 Title: ‘Oneiromancy - divination through dreams’ date: November 2023 material: QR Code, reflctive paint, iPad, Smart phones dimensions: 1 city block under the elevated train in Far Rockaway Beach, NY description: Site specific augmented reality project transforming a pedestrian corridor beneath the A train in Far Rockaway. Through workshops with local youth and community partners, participants created 3D models inspired by dreams, personal stories, and the Rockaways’ coastal ecology. QR codes activated animated AR scenes imagining futures shaped by rising sea levels and adaptive living. Reflective paint and glowing marine life stencils illuminated the space at night, inviting residents to experience environmental storytelling beneath the tracks. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 11 Title: Jamaica Bay - Rockaway Parks Conservancy date: 2022/2023 material: Beach Cleanup Debri, Cyanotypes dimensions: 3’-0” x 3’-0”, 9” x 12” prints description: Free public workshop developed in partnership with the Jamaica Bay Rockaway Parks Wildlife Conservancy. Participants collected shoreline debris at Bayswater Park and along the Beach 67th Street shoreline in Far Rockaway, transforming found materials into mobiles and cyanotype prints. The workshop invited hands on making while celebrating local ecology, collective care, and community connection. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 12 Title: ‘Sedimeditations’ Date: November 2024 Material: soils, plastic tubes, custom 3d printed caps, micro-controller, copper tape, speakers, built in led screen, natural pigments, fiberglass, canvas Dimensions: 3’-0”x 4’-0” X 1.5” (width x height x depth) Description: Interactive living artwork exploring the hidden communications and sounds of nine soil samples from Governors Island and Rockaway Beach, NY. Developed during a fellowship with the Human Impact Institute in partnership with SWALE and the Urban Soils Institute, the project highlights the role of healthy soils in mental well being, food security, and ecological diversity. Layered sound, biosonification, and microscopic imagery reveal the often unseen lifeworlds beneath our feet. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 13 Title: Seaside Strong Mural date: May 2024 - June 2025 material: exterior paint dimensions: 22’-0” x 180’-0” (width x depth), Far Rockaways NY description: The Seaside Strong Mural is a community art project transforming the Underway in Far Rockaway, NY, into a vibrant and welcoming space. As part of the DOT Arterventions program, we co-created a community based artwork that engaged residents, local artists, and youth to create a mural reflecting the Rockaway’s identity, resilience, and aspirations. The project was supported by Living City Project and RISE and designed by artists Camila A. Morales and Ayushi Shriramwar.
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 14 Title: Sandy Soils and Soundwaves Festival date: August 2025 material: soils chromatography, microscopy, tie dye, natural pigment painting, screenprinting, dna extraction, pee-cycling, video installation, biosonification, bioplastics and sailing dimensions: Coastal Conservation Center description: Summer Festival organized in partnership with the Urban Soils Institute, this community event explored urban coastal ecology through collaborative art and scientific workshops. Far Rockaways residents participated in soils chromatography, field recording, soils pit dig and microscopic imaging, transforming environmental data into collective sonic and visual artworks. The project fostered environmental justice, shared learning, and community resilience in a frontline coastal neighborhood with over 250 participants. *built in collaboration with Buena Onda Collective
PROJECT IMAGES & DESCRIPTION
Image 15 Title: ‘Incantations For the Unseen’ - Rockaways date: January 2025 - Ongoing material: seashells, projection video, recycled plastic, leds, clay, custom sound module and found wood dimensions: 10’-0” x 10’-0” X 8’-0”, Far Rockaways, NY description: An interactive installation showcasing fieldwork with students from the RISE Shore Corps youth program during the spring and summer of 2025. Through a series of workshops, students explored the ecology of the Rockaway peninsula, from storytelling with local flora and fauna to field recording, sound editing, and sensing technologies. Together, they created sonic landscapes that amplify the hidden voices of soils, water, and wildlife while addressing the urgency of climate resilience. The work was presented at the RISE Gallery as part of the Earth Day Celebration 2025 and Summer Celebration 2025.