environmental art- protecting the monarch butterfly
Environmental Art Performance
The Concept
The Catrina Monarca performance with original art costume, in collaboration with artist Lizbeth Ortiz, based on abstract prints of the million colored scales that cover the base membrane of the wings, is set to original contemporary classical music Las Campanas. The corporeal expression and dance begins with Interiano Wise interpreting the last minutes of the final stage of metamorphosis of the butterfly when emerging from its chrysalis. The performance seeks to bridge the gap between humans and animal life, bring attention to the Houston/Gulf Coast as a critical biodiverse ecosystem for the survival of the Monarchs, create empathy with the environment, appreciate the multiculturalism of the US and Mesoamerican cultures, and create community among the audience.
The Mission
This creative environmental initiative serves as an urgent plea to protect and expand the vital habitats required for the Monarch's reproduction and migration journey. By fostering deep ecological empathy through artistic expression and providing essential education, our project equips communities along the migratory path—from Houston across the heart of Texas and beyond—with the resources to sow native milkweed seeds. Establishing these essential waystations in local gardens or simple urban planters is a deeply fulfilling act that yields significant ecological benefits. By providing both sustenance and sanctuary, we can collectively ensure the survival of this delicate yet hardy species as it undertakes the planet's most magnificent migration. Together, we can welcome the spring arrival and help sustain the fragile balance of our shared natural world.
The Symbolism
Catrina Monarca serves as a profound emblem of liberty and democratic ideals, embodying the spirit of resilience and the strength of the human soul. She mirrors the journey across borders and spiritual planes, illustrating the cyclical nature of existence. By harmonizing aesthetic splendor with the innate inevitability of mortality, she bridges ancient cosmic traditions to ignite a shared vision for global ecological renewal.
The Performance 2.0
Produced in collaboration with Michelle Britton, Lionwoman Productions, Catrina Monarca 2.0 is set to original contemporary classical score for ten instruments Las Campanas- The Bells- by Houston composer and Rice University alumnus Alex Moreno Gonzalez. The performance begins with artist Interiano Wise inside a chrysalis swaying in the wind and preparing for the metamorphosis to yield a Monarca. Humanizing the butterfly is the goal, and allowing her wings, and her dreams to soar is the emotion, which together bring the audience into a concentrated and fleeting understanding of the short but impactful life of the butterfly. This butterfly flies and dies, to a melodic and minimalist at times score, that with no uncertainty portends the end. As the audience stands in their own emotions, the music begins again, as if a ghost of what was, and a dancer in her art costume that whispers -with its translucent banners- the past life of all Monarchs, appears. She too dances to Las Campanas, as the spirit of all Monarchs past. She carries the memory of our descendants in her shredded wings, deepening the connection with the audience not only on the physical plane, but also in spirit. At the end, the Spirit Monarch disappears, but the music will help deliver the strong environmental mission and message of the performance: be part of the solution.
The Environmental Art Performance
Over the past five years the population of Monarchs has fluctuated significantly, and despite a 2026 uptick in numbers, is in a long-term decline. There was a time four generations ago in the Sierra Chincua of Mexico, that the people of the mountains feared the monarchs arriving, as “they turned day into night” according to the present-day keepers of the monarchs. Those were populations in the billions. According to Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Since the 1990’s, when 700MM Eastern monarchs made the epic migration to Mexico, the population has diminished by 80%. The threats are not going away: pesticide use, climate change, logging and development, and proliferation of herbicide-resistant crops are going to continue to stress the number of monarchs that can make the migration. The monarch population will continue to decline, but it is in our hands to preserve it.
Texas and the Gulf Coast region is in the critical path of the monarch: on their way to Mexico in the fall, Houston and Central Texas become a funnel pathway to Mexico, stopping for sustenance from diverse pollinator flowers that -because of the mild weather -are in abundance. Coming from Mexico in the spring, Texas is as far as the newly fertilized females descending from the trees can migrate to deposit their 400-1000 eggs. The monarch butterfly species (Danaus plexippus) originated 2 million years ago in North America and has not evolved to be able to lay eggs in any other species of plant than Asclepias, commonly known as milkweed. It is critical for the conservation of the monarch that we proliferate greenspace, public gardens, and containers with native milkweed for the monarch’s health and survival. The milkweed readily available in Texas (Tropical Milkweed) is non-native, encourages the build-up of OE, a debilitating parasite that is afflicting the monarchs coming from Texas, and disrupts their migration because it doesn’t die back in time.
This environmental art performance is a call to preserve and augment the flora that the Monarch needs to reproduce and migrate. It does so by inspiring and creating empathy through the art, by educating and disseminating information to audiences, and by enabling and empowering Houstonians, Texans, and populations on the path of the monarchs, to plant native milkweed by giving away seeds and plants. Creating Monarch waystations in any piece of land and even planters is feasible and greatly rewarding, and can have an outsized impact in time to create breeding grounds for the spring arrival of the Monarch, and pollinator flowers for sustenance, to help preserve the fragile yet resilient butterfly that achieves the greatest migration on earth.
The Event
The family oriented performance of dance with music lasts a total of 14 minutes.
An added module to the performance is an artist talk with Q&A session. This could be an interview with the concept artist Geraldina Interiano Wise, an artist talk with the concept artist and the composer, or a conversation with the artist and ecologist or resident expert. This is a 20 minute module.
The seed/pod/ plant give-away or sale, can be open for 15-30 minutes.
Post performance we offer a variety of cultural, artistic and ecological community activations that echo and augment the spirit of the performance, which can be secured to make the experience memorable and educational for the family. These have a 1.5 hour minimum set up.