FEATURED ARTISTS MERCHANDISE ART SUBMISSION WINNERS FRAN MARMILLION

Fran was born and raised in New Orleans, LA and a love of art and the natural world blossomed at a young age. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a BFA in Studio Art and went on to be involved with several creative projects including illustrating children’s books. Her love of animals and environmental advocacy never wavered though, and her career in the sciences began in 2017 when she started working on whale watching boats in Seward, AK. This job would prompt Fran to travel and “migrate” with the humpbacks, as she followed them from their summer feeding grounds in Alaska to their Hawaiian winter birthing grounds. She worked for several seasons narrating whale watches here on Maui, educating guests on the fascinating world of humpbacks before accepting a position as a Marine Naturalist at the Maui Ocean Center. Fran hopes that by living in harmony and reciprocity with the ocean and it’s inhabitants, we can both protect and preserve the natural world while also enriching our own lives.