https://pages.htgaa.org/2026b/val-rose-thompson/index.htmlAbout me Val Thompson is a nationally presenting and exhibiting artist and science communicator. They are also a gigging musician and the songwriter and band lead for MushMush, a local Chicago band that performs monthly. They received their BFA in Art and Technology from the Art Institute of Chicago in 2025. They are currently the Resident Mushroom Cultivation Expert at ChiTownBio and the Head Teaching Assistant for Chicago’s HT(G/B)AA node. They maintain ongoing collaborative relationships with environmental nonprofits around Chicago, such as Urban Rivers and Friends of the Chicago River, and routinely collaborate with scientists on research and educational curricula. They have a bioart and design studio practice grounded in multimedia physical fabrication. Abby Pucker of Gertie Chicago purchased their first major mycelium work, which now resides in her personal collection. They are currently working on a mycelium furniture series that utilizes reclaimed substrate materials that would have otherwise entered the waste streams.Hugoenhttps://pages.htgaa.org/2026b/val-rose-thompson/week-01-hw-project-ideas/index.htmlMon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://pages.htgaa.org/2026b/val-rose-thompson/week-01-hw-project-ideas/index.htmlWhat would you like to biomanufacture and why? I’d like to biomanufacture pigments and pigmented fungal materials for artworks and designed objects, with the aim 2 of making genetically modified colorful mycelium furniture. I’d like to completely replace my art materials with waste-stream, home-scale biomanufacturing processes as a philosophical and conceptual exercise and performance art piece. It’s a kind of extreme zero-waste experiment.https://pages.htgaa.org/2026b/val-rose-thompson/final-project/index.htmlMon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000https://pages.htgaa.org/2026b/val-rose-thompson/final-project/index.html